


With Broad, Flat Nails

by NervousOtaku



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Zack Fair, Bottled up emotions, But he's trying, Genesis is a bit of a pretentious ass, Mental Breakdown, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Indulgent, Socially Awkward Sephiroth, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Zack Fair is a good boy, Zack needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 43
Words: 43,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24926251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousOtaku/pseuds/NervousOtaku
Summary: Ultimately, Zack is only human.Alternatively: The one where Zack loses his temper and proceeds to fix everything the only way he knows how.
Relationships: Zack Fair & Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair & Everyone, Zack Fair & The Turks
Comments: 183
Kudos: 409





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Zack is actually one hell of a badass when you think about it. I mean, this guy, almost literally still a child, goes off to war, helps win it, and proceeds to do all sorts of other batshit crazy things. Fights magic dragon-like things summoned from the aether, defends a coastal town while wearing nothing but swim-trunks and using nothing but a parasol, holds his own against wave after wave after wave of soldiers with machine-guns, this kid is nuts. Oh, and then there's him apparently having no reaction to S-cells, as if Hojo didn't even inject him, while Cloud did react, and his hair rapidly mutating the deteriorating Genesis clone. So we can guess that there's something bonkers with his genetics that give him, like, anti-Jenova properties.
> 
> That stated, Zack never seemed to be given time to process things or react to them. He was always being shuttled off on this mission or that one, helping this person and these people. Poor puppy had to be bottling shit up.

It had been more than a few days since they first arrived in Nibelheim now.

Zack anxiously checked the time.

It was well past a reasonable time for lunch. Sephiroth still hadn't come out of that basement, though. He didn't think the man was sleeping. He at least hoped Sephiroth was drinking water, but somehow doubted it.

At length, he grabbed a few ration bars and headed towards the dilapidated old mansion.

He was admittedly starting to get frustrated. They had been sent here to eliminate monsters and fix the reactor if they were able. They had yet to actually kill any monsters, had just barely looked at the reactor before Genesis deigned o show his face. And now this. Sephiroth cooping himself up in the dusty, creepy basement with his nose buried in journals that looked older than dirt.

Not only that, but Zack knew that if they didn't get a move on, or at least report back to Shinra soon, the company would start getting impatient.

He wanted to be done with this. The air was bad up here.

Reaching the manor and descending into the basement, Zack found Sephiroth still flipping through journals.

“Hey,” he called tentatively as he pulled out the ration bars, “I haven't noticed you eating at all, so I brought you something...”

“Leave it over there.” Sephiroth said without looking up. Without even pointing or gesturing, just turning another page with a dedicated scowl.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Zack asked, eyeing the table covered in books. If he put the ration bars there, they'd get buried and ignored for sure...

Sephiroth didn't even answer this time.

Zack took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “We should get going on the mission, Seph. Shinra's going to start getting antsy if we don't do our jobs.” he tried, a note of desperation creeping into his voice.

“It's fine.”

It was less of a snap and more of a bubble growing thin and popping.

His fist clenched around the ration bars. They were probably crumbs in their wrappers with that, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

It was never fine. Why did people always insist on telling him it was fine in those careless voices, those nonchalant tones? Did they think he was stupid? Did they think he couldn't see that everything was the exact opposite of fine? He may've still been a teenager, but he wasn't a kid oblivious to the world. He was a SOLDIER. He'd gone to war. He'd helped bomb a town, empty as it was. He'd killed countless monsters and people alike. He'd been an unwilling participant of what was essentially an assisted suicide. Zack Fair knew what fine was, and it was never what people tried to convince him was fine.

Teeth grinding, he turned towards one of the bookshelves. Sephiroth wasn't looking, seemed to have forgotten he even existed. Zack lifted his foot and placed his boot squarely against the shelf. With a quiet grunt, he pushed.

There was a long, mournful groan that crescendoed into a loud creak. Several of the books fell from the shelf to the floor as it tipped. It ended with less of a crash and more of a thunk as it hit the next shelf. The crash sounded when both of them hit the floor, the impact jolting something glass from it's perch and making it shatter.

“Zack?!” Sephiroth said, sounding vaguely alarmed.

He didn't look at the general. Dropping the mangled ration bars, he turned towards the stairs.

“I'm going to work, sir,” he said sharply, “I'll let the company know you're claiming temporary leave when I make my report tonight.”

As much as he wanted to, Zack didn't look back as he left the basement.


	2. Chapter 2

“Attention!” Zack barked, drawing the troopers' attention onto him as he entered their room. “Form rank!”

The three of them scrambled to obey. Cloud and two others that Zack couldn't remember the names of at the moment. He and Sephiroth had been given four to work with, but after the bridge collapsing on their first trek up the mountain they were left with three.

“Sir!” the trio answered, lined up neatly in front of him.

“Gear up,” he ordered, “We're returning to the reactor and completing this mission. I expect you all outside and ready to go in five minutes.”

“Sir yes sir!” the troopers answered, offering him swift salutes. He gave a curt nod, and they broke apart to get their things.

His mood hadn't improved at all since leaving the manor. In fact, since he hadn't noticed Sephiroth following him at all, Zack felt safe saying his mood had worsened.

As he waited for the troopers to join him outside, he wondered how he looked. Just like with how he knew when things were fine or not, Zack was aware of how people saw him. Bright, sunny, happy-go-lucky Zack. Zack the puppy. Charming smiley Zack.

He hadn't had time to think too much about the lives he ended in the war. He hadn't been given the time to dwell on Banora. He'd been shouldering too much to truly mourn for Angeal, only managing brief flashes of grief with Aerith.

Zack wasn't always happy, but he wasn't always given the chance or choice to express that. Too often he had to shunt it off to the side and deal with it later. It looked like now was later, all the negative emotions he'd been putting off welling up and taking center stage. But if he wanted to dwell or stew, it'd have to wait just a little longer. As long as he was this upset, Zack was going to put it towards something constructive.

Once the troopers had assembled outside, Zack gave them a quick once-over to make sure they were properly equipped for the trek. It was late afternoon now, and they wouldn't be getting back until late. He was pleased to see that all three of them had water-bottles and ration bars, even if someone was neglecting his bodily needs. As soon as he was content that they were geared up, he nodded and began to march.

Not too far from town came the inevitable question.

“Z... er, sir? Where's General Sephiroth?” Cloud asked.

Zack refused to look back. He could feel that he was still glaring, and he would not, absolutely would not, turn his anger on anyone undeserving, especially not Cloud.

“The general is currently incapacitated,” he replied briskly, earning shocked gasps and exclamations, “For the duration of this mission, he has been relieved of command.”

“Sir?” all three troopers asked.

Before he could answer, a voice called out. Not the one he was wanting to hear, but he still stopped, turning back so he could see.

“Jeez, you guys move fast,” Tifa complained as she caught up, “You should've told me if you were going up the mountain again! I can't guide you if I'm not here!”

“Your concern is appreciated, Miss Lockheart,” Zack said stonily, “But we'll be fine.”

The girl blinked at him as the troopers shuffled anxiously. “Uh... I don't mind—”

Zack cut her off, declaring, “We'll be fighting monsters today, Miss Lockheart. And even if you can fend for yourself against normal Nibel Mountain fauna, what we were called to deal with isn't native and has a good chance of being highly mutated on top of that. It would be ill-advised for civilians to be present, lest they get caught in the crossfire.”

Her confusion quickly melted away into concern. Frowning, Tifa stepped closer to him. “Is... everything okay?” she asked.

Squaring his shoulders and turning back towards the path to the reactor, Zack replied, “No, nothing is. Let's go, troop.”

Thankfully, Tifa didn't persist in following them.

He had to wonder if his mood was coming off as even worse than he felt.


	3. Chapter 3

The mutant gave a gurgling scream that was quickly cut off when Zack buried the Buster in it's thorax. Instead of the crunch of breaking bones, there was only a sickly squelch. Just to be safe, he kicked it's head in as he reclaimed the blade.

The troopers had yet to do anything. Zack had more brought them along in case an emergency arose, and so his report had witnesses. But so far, he'd been handling everything they encountered on his own. He was a disgusting sticky mess by this point. He could feel blood and mako congealing in his hair and uniform. The shine of his equipped materia was completely hidden under liquid viscera. His mouth tasted like absolute ass by this point. It was going to take hours of cleaning to restore the Buster Sword to it's pristine state.

He couldn't bring himself to care right now.

He wanted to be done here. He wanted to go home.

“Alright,” Zack huffed as he turned back to the greenish troopers, “We'll do one more sweep of the building and return to town. Tomorrow we'll come back here to check for stragglers or signs of any nests. Once that's done, we'll check the surrounding forest for any escapees or nests. Afterwards we'll clean out the nests in the manor and call for transport. Understood?”

“S... sir yes sir...” the trio nodded weakly.

Zack nodded curtly back, shouldering the Buster Sword.

The sweep of the building yielded nothing living, so Zack directed the troopers to collect the corpses and pile them up outside. Disposing of the remains so no more monsters showed up was part of the job. Most mutated mako-monsters dissolved and returned to the Lifestream, he had learned, but not all of them. And sometimes not all of the corpse.

As he helped drag and carry the remains outside, he found these to be of that last variety. Wisps of green streamed off the bodies like smoke, creating a sort of glowing flare when they were thrown on top of one another. Thankfully that stuff wasn't flammable, or they'd be up here for hours waiting for it to disperse. No, the worst that would happen would be some green coloration to the flames and a nasty chemical smell.

Zack had just begun to work on draining the mako tanks with the dormant monsters when Cloud came running in.

“Genesis is outside!” the tiny blonde yelled.

Well wasn't that just perfect.

“Get the other two and work on this. I want these tanks drained, the monsters shot several times through the skull and chest to confirm death, and their bodies added to the burn-heap.” he ordered, moving past Cloud to go deal with their ‘visitor.’

Outside the reactor, Genesis seemed to be admiring the heap of monster corpses. Without looking up, the man declared, “You're more brutal than usual, Sephiroth. Something on your mind?”

“The general is on temporary leave.” Zack said coldly.

A look of surprise adorned the redhead's face when he turned to look at Zack. “Temporary...?”

“If a commanding officer demonstrates that they are not fit to lead during a mission, it is the responsibility of the next in command to relieve them of duty until return to base.” he elaborated sharply, crossing his arms as he came to a stop about six feet away.

A derisive grin twisted Genesis's lips. “Are you saying you mutinied, Puppy? How scandalous. I can't imagine your dear precious Shinra—”

“It has been a bad week,” Zack growled, earning a surprised blink, “And I'm in a shitty mood. If you can get out of here by the count of three, I'll pretend my trooper was overreacting and that none of us saw you. One.”

Genesis's grin dropped. “I don't think you're exactly in position to be giving me orders, Puppy.”

“Due to your dishonorable discharge, even the infantrymen outrank you, I am in every position. Two.”

Genesis began to sweep forward, wing flexing at his side and a glint in his eye. “And what makes you think I'll listen?”

No one did. No one ever listened to a single thing he said. Not Angeal, not Tseng, not Sephiroth, not that brat from Wutai, not Genesis. No matter what he said, no one listened to a single word.

There it was again, that delicate little bubble popping as it stretched too thin.

As Genesis stepped closer, Zack reacted.

Logically, given everything else that Genesis seemed capable of, it would grow back. However, the man was clearly in a bad way, and it was a good chunk of mass to boot. It would take time.

The wing hit the ground with a thump, the Buster Sword leaving a gash in the dirt next to it. Genesis reeled back with a short, surprised gasp.

“Three.” Zack growled, baring his teeth.


	4. Chapter 4

People had a tendency to underestimate Zack. Even though he was a SOLDIER, and a First Class at that, they never expected him to be as fast or as strong as he was. They didn't see someone able to take on huge, angry summons, or swarms of automated tanks that decimated crowds of normal people. No, they looked at him and saw a happy, clumsy little goofball.

He could kind of remember Cissnei commenting that it was something he had to his advantage. People underestimating a foe tended to leave themselves undefended and easy to take out.

His fist crashed into Genesis's face, knocking the man back.

It didn't feel good. Genesis was a SOLDIER, was sick, was Angeal's friend. This was not a fun fight.

Zack didn't give Genesis time to recover, abandoning the Buster Sword and pressing in close. Genesis wasn't a hand-to-hand fighter. Not even his clones were. Long-range magic and dramatic swordplay were the man's specialties, supplemented by the guns his clones wielded and the way he was apparently able to control the feathers of his wing.

Rapier had been dropped after the first punch. At this point, Genesis was on defense, barely blocking Zack's rush. He hadn't expected Zack to react like this, it was plain to see. But then again, no one expected anything of Zack. He was just Shinra's cute little puppy, and who in their right mind expected anything of that?

Still raining down blows, Zack noticed one of Genesis's materia beginning to glow brighter.

He hooked one foot around the man's knee and pulled.

“Ack—!”

Zack planted his boot on Genesis's chest as the man hit the ground. He was panting, but not from exertion. No, he had long since found that he could go for longer, harder, with less rest and food.

Zack was just fucking pissed.

Shifting his weight, he dropped to one knee on top of Genesis. The redhead coughed, turning his head with a wet retch. Zack chose to ignore that for the time being, grabbing the man's wrist and yanking the materia-bracer off. He checked for rings or chokers, and quickly frisked Genesis for any other weapons or equips. Once he was satisfied that everything had been removed, he got off of Genesis. Before the man could get up or flee or anything, Zack reached down and dug his fingers into the shoulder with the old injury.

Just as he had suspected, the leather and fabric beneath his hand oozed and squished, Genesis making a muffled noise of pain.

As he pulled the disgraced SOLDIER up, the door to the reactor opened.

“S... sir...” the troopers all mumbled. A quick glance their way revealed that they were holding assorted glowing corpse parts. He got the feeling that the green tinge to their faces wasn't just the dissolving mako mutant.

“Right on time. Handcuffs.” Zack ordered, letting go of Genesis's shoulder to twist his arms behind his back. SOLDIERs didn't typically make arrests and therefore didn't carry any, but it was something most infantry had since they served as law-enforcement.

Cloud was the one who approached, holding the cuffs out like a tentative peace offering. Zack nodded curtly as he accepted them, asking, “How's clean-up going?” as he fastened them on Genesis's wrists.

“... I can still break out of these, you know...” the redhead muttered.

“If you know what's good for you, you won't. Clean-up, trooper?”

“Ugh... the rest is... too big for us...” Cloud answered, swaying a little.

It was getting late. The sun was setting. Already it would be well after dark by the time they got back. If they took the time to cut the corpses into manageable pieces, going back down the mountain would become too dangerous.

“Alright, you three watch Rhapsodos. If he tries anything, shoot him.” Zack ordered.

“What about his clones, sir?” one of the other troopers asked nervously.

Genesis turned an interested eye on him. None had shown up yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't summon a handful of two.

Without answering, Zack marched over to the discarded pile of Genesis's gear. With minimal rooting, he found a red materia. He had one of his own that he'd fished out of Nibelheim's water tower, but he wanted to hold onto that himself. Popping the one Genesis had out of the bracer, he focused on it, asking briefly what it was. The image of the draconian summon from Midgar popped into his head.

“Here,” he said, handing it to one of the troopers, “If anything happens, use this.”

“You really think they'd be able to control that?” Genesis scoffed.

“Like you were any better.” Zack said with a glare. As the redhead blinked in surprise, Zack informed the troopers, “I'll collect the rest. I meant it when I said to shoot him if he tries anything.”

The trio saluted.

Zack threw the severed wing onto the heap of mako mutants, collected the Buster Sword, and returned to the reactor without a word more.


	5. Chapter 5

“Zack.”

“Sir.” he acknowledged as Sephiroth approached the bonfire.

The general's gaze flicked about, hovering on the roaring blaze, the troopers surrounding Genesis, and on Zack. “... The villagers were concerned when they saw the mako flare.”

“I'll apologize in the morning.” Zack replied, standing at parade rest as he watched the fire.

“... Why didn't you inform me that Genesis had returned?” Sephiroth asked.

Zack was tired. His anger had just about worn off by this point, and he just wanted a shower and a hot meal before collapsing. But hearing that, some of it came surging back. Sephiroth had holed up in that basement and refused everything but the dusty old books in there, and now he thought Zack would try telling him about things like this?

“You have been temporarily relieved of command, sir,” he growled, turning a glare on Sephiroth, “And as such there was no need to inform you of this development. Please return to Nibelheim village.”

“Wait, you didn't even tell him about this? Did you really mutiny?” Genesis called, sounding incredulous.

“Zack—”

“With all due respect, sir,” Zack informed Sephiroth, “The assigned mission was neglected for nearly a week. The troopers were left unattended and the monsters unchecked. No progress had been made on repairing the reactor or wiping out the monster infestation. You refused food, water, and sleep, allowing your physical and mental state to deteriorate. As such, you have proven yourself not fit to take charge during this mission, and I am removing you from command for the good of yourself and the reputation of SOLDIER. You may resume command as soon as we have returned to Midgar HQ and filed our reports from the mission.”

He was aware that everyone was staring at him. Sephiroth was blinking as if hit with a confusion spell. Zack was willing to bet that no one had ever even thought of trying this before. For someone— no, for sweet and bubbly innocent little Zack to suddenly be usurping the general's command and snapping orders like this, it probably did seem like a fever dream.

When no one said anything, Zack turned his attention back to the fire. It looked like the majority of the corpses had been reduced to charcoal. He should start putting it out soon so they could trek back down the mountain and figure out what the hell to do with Genesis. They only had the troopers' handcuffs in terms of restraints, and Genesis wasn't lying when he said he could break out of them. Even sickly, shot through with ashy grey, the man was strong. But maybe if Zack swung by the mansion he could find some sturdier chains? Like the ones on the coffin he'd opened?

... Right, there was that whole can of worms.

No, that could be taken care of when the manor was swept for monsters. If the stranger proved hostile, locked up for a reason, Zack would take care of it and responsibility. If he was benign, he would be arrested for trespassing, or at least given the chance to get the hell out. If he wasn't actually alive, well, Zack would see to it that he got a proper burial.

For now, though, Zack needed to put out the fire and start walking everyone back down the mountain. He wiped some of the dried monster goo from his face and spat on the ground in order to rid his mouth of the taste.

“Um...”

He turned his head to find Cloud offering a water bottle.

“... Thanks, Spiky.” Zack said, only managing a weak smile as he accepted the bottle. After taking a glug of water, he announced, “We'll be heading back down shortly. Since we don't have SOLDIER-grade restraints, we'll make a stop by Shinra manor to see if we can't find anything better than your handcuffs.”

“Zack—”

“Not now, sir.” he said in a warning tone of voice. Thankfully, Sephiroth seemed to understand, and stopped talking.

Genesis, on the other hand, boldly declared, “I wonder what Angeal would think if he could see his little puppy now, barking orders like this.”

For a moment, Zack didn't move.

Then slowly, stiffly, he turned and strode over to the man. Pushing his face close to Genesis's, he growled, “The thing about puppies is that we grow up. And some of us grow into wolves.”


	6. Chapter 6

Okay.

So he didn't exactly know who he was supposed to be reporting to.

Zack stood in the middle of his room at the inn and stared blankly at his phone.

All his anger had finally worn off. No one had done anything on the way down the mountain to reignite it. Now he was just tired, hungry, disgusting, and in need of a hug. But before he did anything like shower or get himself something to eat, he wanted to get this report out of the way.

But currently there were no superior officers to report to. Ordinarily that would be Sephiroth, who was out for obvious reasons. Lazard had apparently deserted while Zack's back was turned, so that struck him out too. Yet if someone didn't report soon, they were liable to have Turks breathing down their necks.

After a moment longer spent thinking, Zack had an idea. Dialing, he put his phone near his ear and counted the tone.

Thankfully, before long, he was greeted with, “Tseng speaking.”

“SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair making an in-progress field-report, sir.” he replied.

“... Zack?”

“Yeah I know you're probably not who I report to, but it's been a long day and I need a shower. No one tells me fucking anything, but I trust you to pass the report along to the proper person. Permission to continue?” he fired off.

There was a pause where Tseng didn't say anything. Zack waited tiredly, working to peel off the glove of his free hand without... well, his occupied one.

“... Proceed.” the Turk finally said.

Zack had gotten Tseng's number by sheer chance. He was aware that Turks weren't in the habit of giving out their numbers. Security risks and whatnot. But after... after a lot of missions where he somehow ended up working with the Turks, Zack had found himself with Tseng's number in his phone and instructions not to use it for leisure calls.

This wasn't a leisure call, though.

“Right, I'm just going to give you a quick summary, because I need to be up early. But I've replaced General Sephiroth as commanding officer. I'm temporarily relieving him of duty until we return to Midgar.” He paused there, giving Tseng the chance to react. When he got nothing, Zack continued, “After a week of not doing jack about the mission, I finally got the troopers up to the reactor. I think most of the monsters have been cleared out and disposed of, but we'll be returning tomorrow to double-check. I don't think any of us are qualified to do repairs so don't ask about that. While we were up there, we were approached by Genesis. Long story short, he is currently under arrest but I have no clue if he'll stay that way. We still need to check the forest surrounding the reactor for monsters and nests, as well as clear out Shinra manor. Once all that is done, I'll call again requesting transport.”

“... Is that everything, SOLDIER?” Tseng asked calmly.

“I think so, yeah. Unless you have anything for me, I'm going to hang up and take a shower.” Zack sighed, finally getting his glove off.

“... Give Aerith a call before you go to bed. It's the middle of the day over here and you sound like you need it.”

He wanted to sob in gratitude for the reminder about the time-change, but managed to keep himself together. Instead he said, “Will do. See ya, Tseng.”

The Turk hung up first, and Zack threw his phone onto his bed.

As he peeled his other glove off and made up his mind to start with cleaning the Buster Sword, a quiet knock came at the door.

“Who is it.” he called flatly.

“Zack,” Sephiroth's voice answered, “Can I come in?”

It was tempting to say no like a kid throwing a fit. But Zack wasn't a kid any more.

“It's open.” he said, moving to find his sword-cleaning kit.

The door creaked open, and Sephiroth came in. Zack didn't greet him, still frustrated and annoyed, but also tired. Whatever the general wanted, he'd have to do it while Zack was cleaning the Buster.

“... Heidegger.” Sephiroth said in a quiet tone.

“What about him?” Zack asked, wiping off what guck he could from his sword.

“He's who SOLDIER reports to now. Him and Professor Hojo.”

Zack paused in his work, lifting his head to look at the general. Sephiroth was standing in the middle of the room, looking vaguely lost. Sighing, Zack informed him, “I'm too tired to snarl at you about eavesdropping, and I'm too exhausted to ask for their numbers right now. Remind me later.”

Sephiroth gave a little dip of his head, one that Zack had learned stood in place of a nod. Nodding back, he continued to clean the Buster Sword.

The general didn't move.

“If you're going to hang around, then sit. I'm too drained to get tired looking at you.” Zack said, briefly pointing towards the bed.

After a moment, Sephiroth did so.

They sat in silence for a long enough time that Zack nearly had the sword clean before the general spoke up again.

“I truly did not realize just how long I had been down there.” Sephiroth informed him.

“I was telling you the time and date most of the times I went down there.” Zack replied, unable to keep the tinge of venom from his voice. “Glad to know no one listens when I talk.”

“That isn't...” Sephiroth trailed off.

“Maybe not directly,” Zack harrumphed, kicking away all the dirty rags so he could start on sharpening and polishing, “But you sure as hell just confessed that you weren't listening when I was talking. I'm sick of people not listening when I talk.”

“... I thought I could find answers,” Sephiroth said, and Zack saw the man's fists clench, “About myself, or about why...”

He trailed off again, and Zack sighed.

“Look, I get it,” he said, staring down at the sword in his hands, “Everyone gets confused, or lost, or wants to find answers. But that's not the way to go about it. And, I mean...”

Lifting his head, he found Sephiroth looking at him expectantly.

“... What about me?” Zack finally said. “What about all the shit I've been through? I mean, the first time I ever met the Commander Genesis, he turned out to be a giant evil pigeon.”

The general blinked, looking confused, but Zack plowed on.

“And then Angeal up and ditches without a word as to why, then the Turks are suddenly dragging me around to do this and that, then I'm coerced into assisting Angeal's suicide, then I'm suddenly in charge of new recruits, all of them, then Lazard goes AWOL, now you're going coconuts and to top it all off I haven't gotten to see my girlfriend for almost two weeks! But am I given time to process any of this? Am I given time to mourn, or get angry, or recover, or anything? No, and when I try it's, ‘Bad Zack, no Zack!’” he ranted, gesturing wildly to drive his point home. “The only person I've been able to ask for a hug when I need it I don't get to see for days on end because I'm on mission and SOLDIER has a reputation to uphold! Heck, I have a reputation to uphold! I'm Lieutenant Commander Zack Fair, I can't cry or ask for hugs, I'm second in command to General Sephiroth!”

His volume had begun to climb, he realized as he finished. He hoped no one had heard. He also hoped the tightness in his throat and burning in his eyes would stop soon. He had just listed all the reasons why he couldn't cry, if he cried now it was a moot point. He told himself it was just the cleaning chemicals and picked up the kit again.

“... I'm sorry,” Sephiroth said, and the absurdity of General freaking Sephiroth apologizing for anything made Zack look up, “I'm not very good at... hugs.”

Zack stared for a moment, just... processing what had been said.

Sephiroth didn't seem to understand why he burst out laughing, and the befuddled look on the general's face just made him laugh harder.


	7. Chapter 7

“... I wasn't aware that you had a girlfriend.”

“Y'know, Seph, just because I'm not having a fit today doesn't mean you aren't removed from command. Go back to town.” Zack said.

“You really think he'll listen?” Genesis scoffed. For lack of a proper holding cell, Zack had been forced to just kind of... drag the man around after them. He wasn't going to make Nibelheim responsible for watching this loon and potentially ending up with their town burnt down.

“Technically, since I'm on forced temporary leave, I have no obligations to do anything, and can go where I wish.” Sephiroth answered placidly.

“No, technically you're a civilian, and will remain as such unless one hell of an emergency kicks up. Go back to town.” Zack replied.

“You're talking to a brick wall.” Genesis drawled.

“And you shut up before I gag you.” he warned, shooting the redhead a scowl.

“With what?” Genesis challenged, rolling his shoulders as if he weren't chained up and being led around like a dog.

“I have socks.” Zack said simply, earning a horrified and disgusted look. “Then kindly shut the fuck up. And Seph, please go back to Nibelheim, I don't have the energy to deal with both of you nutjobs today on top of this crackpot mission. I mean, who the hell sends SOLDIERs to fix a mako reactor...”

“I have an answer, but I'm under threat of being gagged.”

“Then shut the hell up and wait until I'm working on tonight's report to give it.” Zack ordered. Turning, he called, “Find anything?”

“No sir!” the troopers answered.

After he'd shooed Sephiroth out of his room last night, Zack had taken his shower, scarfed down some rations, and called Aerith. Whether or not he'd cried at all as a grand finale to the mental breakdown of the day, that was between him and Aerith. While he wasn't feeling better per se, he wasn't going to fly off the handle at anyone today. Not unless they really asked for it. He still wanted a hug, and he didn't care if the company told him no, he was claiming some paid vacation when they got back from this mission. Take a week or two off, sleep in Aerith's church and help sell flowers. Or unpaid. One way or another, he was taking some time off.

But now he was back up at the reactor, with Genesis in tow, Sephiroth following like a lost chocobo, and three troopers who jumped when he addressed them. At least Cloud seemed to understand that yesterday was an isolated event, since the blonde had asked him if he would be okay to keep going today, and seemed to flinch the least. Zack didn't know what he would do if his little cadet friend suddenly reacted to him with fear.

On the other hand, maybe now people would start taking him seriously. Or at least this little group would.

He still needed a hug, but felt like he could maybe hold out until getting back to Midgar.

“Go over everything one more time,” Zack ordered, “If something was missed and Nibelheim gets overrun by mutants as a result, it'll be on our heads.”

“Sir!” the troopers replied, vanishing back into the forest.

The reactor was clear. No signs of monsters or nests or monsters burrowing through it. Just a little damage that Sephiroth had declared made no sense and was likely sabotage— earning a laugh from Genesis and a elbow to the redhead's ribs from Zack— so Zack had sent the infantrymen into the surrounding forest to look for tracks or the like while he tried to bully Sephiroth back down the mountain.

“Okay, now will you please go back? Go play with the local kids or something, they like testing SOLDIERs.” he tried.

“Testing SOLDIERs?” Sephiroth echoed.

“Yeah. I ended up doing a lot of running around on their behalf while you were shut up in that basement. See if you can get my ball down without a ladder! Solve the mystery of the blood in the water tower! Bet you can't run fifty laps around town! Stuff like that.”

Genesis looked like he wanted to say something snarky, but didn't. Zack made a mental note that the sock threat was effective in the event that he had to take any more prisoners.

“... I don't know if that would be a good idea.” Sephiroth said after a thoughtful pause that had sent Zack's hopes soaring.

“Ugh. Fine. Why were you so surprised to learn I have a girlfriend?” he muttered.

“Not surprised, just... unaware?”

Dragging a hand down his face, Zack answered, “Yes, I have a girlfriend. She lives in Sector Five, sub-plate, she's the cutest and sweetest girl ever, and I literally thought I'd died and gone to heaven first time I laid eyes on her.”

Genesis scoffed as Sephiroth tipped his head.

“No, really,” Zack said, rocking back on his heels, “Angeal had just thrown me off the plate.”

That made both of them freeze. Zack understood. Even for a SOLDIER First, to fall from the plate was... a lot. To this day he had no clue how he managed to escape with nothing more than a bump on his head.

“When I woke up, this pretty girl was hanging over me, asking if I was okay. With how the light hit her, I thought she was an angel. She thought I'd knocked myself silly when I told her that, though.” he elaborated, unable to help himself. Talking about Aerith was helping, though, so as long as he didn't let anything slip that would result in Tseng killing him, he wouldn't try to stop. “And then later, when my wallet got stolen, she was essentially the one who got it back for me. And all that time, she didn't even realize I was a Shinra SOLDIER, because she'd never seen one before. She didn't even think SOLDIERs were humans, with all the stories she'd heard. She was convinced that we were all experimented on so heavily that our own moms wouldn't recognize us.”

“Is that what they think of us...” Sephiroth murmured thoughtfully.

“Not all of them. I mean, there's no love lost on Shinra sub-plate. And by now, I can see why. But I want to show them that Shinra isn't all bad. There are those of us in the company who genuinely want to do good. The bad people are just louder.” Zack replied.

Both Genesis and Sephiroth hummed thoughtfully.


	8. Chapter 8

Oh no, another civilian.

Zack managed to withhold his sigh when he spotted Tifa coming up the path towards them. They were on their way back to the mansion to clear it out after finding no more monsters, nests, or tracks at the reactor. She, on the other hand, brightened upon seeing them, and jogged up to meet their group.

“Feeling better today, Commander?” she asked, falling in next to Zack as he walked.

“I think better is subjective,” he replied vaguely, “I'm sorry I was so short last night.”

The girl waved it off, declaring, “Everyone has bad days, and it wasn't like you really yelled at anyone.”

Well...

But Tifa was already slinging a backpack off her shoulder, rummaging around in it as they walked. “I heard you were a real mess when you got back last night, and since you helped keep everyone's kids occupied for the past few days...”

He shot a triumphant look at Sephiroth before getting something thrust at his chest. “What's this?”

“Cookies,” Tifa answered, producing a second, carefully wrapped bundle before declaring, “Cookies are good to have after bad days.”

“... Thanks.” Zack smiled. It'd been a while since he'd gotten cookies. Even store-bought ones.

“Okay, and then these ones,” Tifa declared, holding out the second bundle, “You hafta deliver for me.”

He blinked. “Oh?”

“My friend went to Midgar so he could join SOLDIER. But no one's heard from him for a while. I imagine he's busy, if he's a lower rank than you.” the girl nodded.

“... That is kinda how it works, yeah. I don't remember anyone from Nibelheim in SOLDIER, but I can ask around.” Zack said, smiling to hide his awkwardness. If Sephiroth hadn't been aware that Zack had a girlfriend, Zack hadn't been aware that Cloud had a girlfriend. No wonder the kid had been sneaking around and refusing to take off his helmet.

“Cool. His name is Cloud, Cloud Strife. You promise to give them to him and not eat them yourself?” Tifa asked.

Zack threw an elbow into Sephiroth's side as the general's head began to turn back. “If you're going to insist on tagging along and being a nuisance, at least keep your eyes forward so you don't trip or anything,” he pretended to berate before turning back to Tifa and saying, “I have my cookies, so I don't need to eat his. Don't worry, I'll get them to him.”

The girl smiled, skipping ahead a bit. Zack took advantage of her not looking to elbow Sephiroth again and shoot a warning glare over his shoulder at the other two troopers. But it honestly looked like Cloud had his thumbs in their kidneys, so maybe he didn't have to worry. Noticing that Genesis was staring too, he gave the chain lead a little yank.

“So the reactor's all cleared out, then?” Tifa hummed, turning to walk backwards.

“Yeah, and the surrounding forest appears to be clear as well. We just have the manor and it's surroundings to clear out, and then we'll be heading back to Midgar.” Zack nodded. Just like talking about Aerith earlier had helped, talking casually with a civilian now was helping. It must've been longer than he thought since last time he honestly and truly relaxed like this. Maybe as well as hanging out with Aerith, he should see what Kunsel was up to when he took his time off. He wondered if Tseng would allow him to introduce the two.

“Well, if you see any ghosts or vampires in there, be sure to let me know!” Tifa declared, drawing him out of those thoughts.

“If I see any what?” he chuckled, shaking his head.

“Rumors have been going around for years that Shinra manor is haunted. Kids used to dare each other to go in and bring back proof of ghosts, or to spend the night there on your own. We had to stop when monsters started moving in, but supposedly one kid saw a creepy man with flashing eyes and a mean snarl disappear into one of the bedrooms and not come out again.” Tifa explained.

“How ridiculous...” Genesis muttered as Zack and Sephiroth exchanged a look.


	9. Chapter 9

“That should be all the monsters...” Sephiroth murmured.

“I'm still writing you up for interfering.” Zack grumbled, shouldering the Buster Sword.

“I wasn't interfering. I came here on my own time and happened to come under attack.” the general replied smoothly.

“Ugh, whatever. Here, you hold this then.” Zack ordered, taking Genesis's chain from the trooper who'd caught it earlier and thrusting it at Sephiroth. “I'm going into the basement real quick.”

“You really think a monster might've made it down there?” Sephiroth asked.

“For as sharp as you are, Seph, your observation skills are kinda shit. Your three keep an eye on these two. If Genesis tries anything, the order to shoot still stands, if anything bad happens, you have that summon materia, and you all currently outrank the general because he is on leave and technically a civilian. Got it?” Zack told the troopers.

“Sir yes sir!” they replied.

“Great. I'll be back in a bit.”

With that, Zack ducked into the bedroom and moved aside the wardrobe hiding the way into the basement. He didn't bother looking around to see if the general had cleaned up before leaving, instead focusing on getting to the coffin room.

Once he was there, Zack tipped his head, listening.

... Something was definitely breathing, so there was that.

After a moment spent in thought, he decided against outright opening the coffin again. If the guy inside was actually hostile, having a bit of something between them gave him an advantage.

Instead he knocked, beating the side of his fist against the lid a few times.

Almost instantly, the breathing stopped.

“Hiya in there. I'm gonna hafta ask you to identify yourself.” Zack greeted.

There was a long, slow inhale, and then a hoarse voice replied, “It's polite to introduce yourself first.”

“I guess that's fair. I'm Lieutentant Commander Zack Fair of SOLDIER, First Class. I'm here on a monster sweep mission. Whether or not you're a monster, you're kinda squatting on Shinra property. I had a shit day yesterday and don't want to deal with any more paperwork than necessary, so I'm gonna give you one chance to peacefully vacate the premises.” he answered.

The lid of the coffin creaked, inching up with golden talons curled around the edge. Blood-red eyes glowed up at Zack from within the shadows of the coffin.

“And if I refuse?” the hoarse voice challenged, sounding a little smoother this time.

“Well, in that case we have two options,” Zack said, squatting down so he was more even with the coffin, “One is that I drag you out anyway and arrest you for trespassing. The other is that I assume you're a malevolent mako mutant, and fight and kill you so that you pose no threat to the town of Nibelheim.”

After a moment, the gold claws retreated, and the coffin-lid lowered. “You can't kill me, Zack. But so long as I stay here, I don't pose any threat to anyone.”

He didn't feel that little pop, but it was a near thing. Standing up, he put his boot against the edge of the lid.

“Did I mention,” he asked, “That yesterday was a really shitty day?”

The lid of the coffin crashed against the wall, knocking over two others and spilling the bones within over the floor. The man within the coffin looked like a chocobo in the headlights as Zack stooped over to grab him by the collar of his fancy cloak.

“I am so sick and tired of no one listening,” he growled as he hauled the man upright, “Or taking me seriously, or treating me like a kid. Why do people only pay attention when I'm destroying things?”

The man shocked him by twisting away, out of the cloak thing. Doing so revealed a surprisingly lithe form, given his height, wrapped in more belts and buckles than was wholly necessary, as well as a gun in a thigh-holster. As Zack blinked, the man took up a stance on the other side of the room. It didn't take a genius to see that the guy was some kind of professional.

“... Fine, we'll play that way, then.” Zack said, dropping the cloak and digging out his phone. The stranger blinked, tipping his head, as Zack dialed the number he wanted. “Hand the chain off and get down here. It's nothing serious yet, but I'd like a second set of hands. If I catch you even looking towards those stupid books again, though, I'm hitting you.”


	10. Chapter 10

As much as he hated to admit it, calling Sephiroth down was the right idea. The man— Vincent, apparently— had become docile and compliant upon seeing the general. He'd swaddled up in the red cloak and trailed obediently after them.

“Okay,” Zack sighed as he replaced the wardrobe, “Since you changed your tune awfully quick after seeing Seph, I'm kinda assuming you know him somehow.”

“And yet I've no recollection of you.” Sephiroth added.

Vincent tipped his head, appearing vaguely thoughtful. “... No. I suppose you weren't actually born yet.”

“So why the familiarity?” Zack frowned.

Vincent was quiet.

“Fine, whatever. See if I care.” Zack grumbled—

“He looks like his mother.”

Silence fell over the room.

Before Sephiroth could break it, Zack clapped his hands. “So anyway, we should go back downstairs before Genesis does something that requires the troopers to use that summon,” he declared, “When we get back to the inn, you two can chat, I can interrogate Genesis, and once transport has gotten here we can all go on our merry way.”

“Interrogate?” Sephiroth said with a soft huff as Zack left the room.

“He claims to know who sabotaged the reactor, plus we're eventually going to need to know where Hollander is at, how he's continued to make clones despite Tseng and I trashing their equipment, yada yada yada.” Zack replied, waving vaguely as he approached the stairs.

As the three of them arrived in the foyer where the other four were, one of the unnamed troopers asked, “Sir, who is this?”

“This is Vincent—”

“Sephiroth's godfather.” the mysterious stranger supplied.

“Drop the other one,” Genesis sneered, “We can all tell that's a lie.”

Zack dropped to one knee, untying his boot.

“What're you doing?” Sephiroth asked.

“He,” Zack answered with a jab of his thumb towards Genesis, “Seems incapable of shutting up, and I'm getting really fed up with his snide attitude.”

“Oh.” Cloud said, apparently putting two and two together.

“... Oh.” the other two troopers said a second later.

“... There is a saying about that, I believe.” Vincent supplied as Zack pried his boot off.

Thankfully, seeing the threat visualized seemed to get Genesis to actually shut up. Zack still kept his sock in hand even as they returned to the town, just to be sure the redhead stayed quiet.

However, as they reached the inn, Zack found himself recognizing the person out front.

“Cissnei?!” he half-yelled in surprise.

The female Turk waved with a smile. “Fancy meeting you here, Zack.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Reno and I were taking care of a mission not too far south of here. Almost directly after we finished, I got a call from Tseng asking if we were available to serve as transport for yourself and the general.” Cissnei explained calmly. Before Zack could say anything, she added, “He also said that you sounded a little off-kilter and in need of a friendly face.”

He offered a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck as he admitted, “I might've thrown a bit of a tantrum, yeah. I've been bottling a lot of things up lately, and I guess it got the better of me.”

Given that it was getting late again, Zack had sent the infantrymen off to sleep. Mostly. He had pulled Cloud aside, given him the cookies from Tifa, and gave a lecture on honesty and being truthful that would've made Angeal proud. The blonde had reluctantly plodded off, and Zack had every intention of checking with Tifa that the two of them actually talked before the group left. The plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Zack imagined he could swing talking to Tifa real quick first.

Reno, Cissnei had told them, was sleeping in the helicopter to keep anyone from getting any ideas about tampering with it. So that left her, Zack, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Vincent crammed into Zack's inn-room. And honestly, Zack was ready to sing Tseng praises, write hymns about the man. Reminding him of the time-change between continents so he could call Aerith, sending Cissnei over so he had at least someone to vent to... he definitely owed Tseng for this.

That was probably the idea, in debt him to the Turks and rope him into more missions he wouldn't usually do. But at this point, so long as he wasn't razing another town, Zack imagined he'd do it.

At some point, it seemed, he had become closer to the Turks than the SOLDIERs.

“Well, you seem to be doing better now, but maybe when you get back to Midgar you should take some time off.” Cissnei smiled back. As he nodded, she crossed her legs and suggested, “So how about you do your report now, to me, and I can pass it along to Heidegger so that as soon as we get back, you can do that?”

“You're the best, you know that? I love you.” Zack told her.

“Well, your fans would be awfully disappointed if they heard that you were experiencing mental breakdowns.” she chuckled.

“Wait, what fans?” Genesis butted in, apparently no longer scared of being gagged.

“The Zack Fair Fan Club,” Cissnei replied easily, “Much smaller than any of yours, but also much less fanatic. And a good number of them actually have met Zack, too. He's quite popular in Midgar.”

“... Congratulations...?” Sephiroth said uncertainly, tilting his head.

Zack smiled, then shook himself out of that. “Anyway! The report!”

With that, he proceeded to explain everything that had happened to the best of his ability. He started at their arrival in Nibelheim, despite Genesis's dramatic groans, and progressed from there. While he was unable to provide exact times, Cissnei didn't seem bothered by his vague quaffling on how long everything took. When he asked, she said that if all else failed, they could figure out a rough guess based on all the reports made by troopers and Sephiroth.

Finally, at long last, Zack reached the end of the tale. Cissnei reached out to pat his knee when he was done, and he smiled wanly.

“So, Genesis,” the Turk said, turning her attention to the other redhead, “Given my position, I am responsible for informing you that if you cooperate with us—”

“I'm not falling for that,” the disgraced SOLDIER sneered sharply, “You offer a lighter sentence, help with needs, and then you stab your informants in the back. I know how the Turks work.”

Vincent made a short, small noise, the first he'd made since entering the inn. Zack blinked at the man, but was given no elaboration, just a blank red stare.

“Ordinarily, yes,” Cissnei said smoothly, completely unruffled, “However, your cloning ability and flight would be of great benefit to Shinra. Therefore, it is in our interest to have you cooperate.”

“I refuse.” Genesis said stubbornly.

“Are you at least going to tell us who sabotaged the reactor, or do I have to cut something else off?” Zack challenged.

“Something else?” Sephiroth asked, looking quizzically to Genesis.

“My wing.” the redhead answered shortly, apparently weighing his options. After a moment, he said, “Shinra themselves sabotaged that reactor. Specifically the science department. It's part of an experiment involving Sephiroth, or so I've heard.”

Zack couldn't help but think back to Tifa talking about the manor. A man with flashing eyes and a mean snarl— that could've been Hojo, couldn't it? That basement had been full of pretty Hojo-brand stuff.

“So they busted the reactor, planted monsters, and sent Seph out here. For what purpose?” Zack asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Likely the same reason that I was here. To expose the truth about his mother.” Genesis shrugged, looking far too nonchalant about the matter.

“What about her?”

Everyone blinked, looking at Vincent. The strange man was suddenly sharp and alert looking, instead of vaguely spacey and disinterested. His gaze was focused on Genesis. Defensive, Zack couldn't help but think.

“... Right. You claimed to know her.” Sephiroth murmured.

“Yes. Lucrecia.” Vincent nodded.

There was a pause.

“You must be mistaken. My mother's name is Jenova.” Sephiroth said placidly.

Ruby eyes narrowed, and Zack couldn't help but twitch for his sword when he saw the clawed gauntlet tense.

“No,” Vincent said firmly, “Whoever told you that is lying. Your mother is Lucrecia Crescent, a Shinra scientist. Jenova is an excavated prehistoric biomass that she and Professor Hojo were researching, primarily into splicing and grafting it's genes to those of humans.”

“And how do you know this, sir?” Cissnei asked in a polite, even tone. “It's one thing to claim you're the general's godfather, but it's another all together to walk around knowing Shinra secrets, or to have been discovered hidden in the basement of a Shinra facility.”

There was a longer pause this time, tenser. Vincent tipped his head, looking a bit too much like Sephiroth when thoughtful.

Finally, at length, the man said, “I was assigned as their bodyguard while they were at Nibelheim, under orders from General Affairs.”

Zack knew what that was.

That was the Turks.


	12. Chapter 12

“Well?” Zack asked as Cissnei approached.

“There are, actually, records of a Turk named Vincent Valentine who was assigned to bodyguard duty in Nibelheim just over twenty years ago,” she replied, tucking her phone into her suit-pocket, “To Professor Hojo, Professor Crescent, and various lab assistants. The details of what they were doing are classified enough that I can't get to them without getting in trouble. But regarding Vincent Valentine, supposedly there was a bad lab accident, and he was killed while protecting Professors Hojo and Crescent. A body was never sent back due to what is listed as ‘contamination reasons,’ and he was supposedly cremated on-site.”

Zack folded his arms with a grim hum.

After Vincent's little bombshell, Zack and Cissnei had allowed Sephiroth to take Genesis and Vincent back to his room. Probably to hear more about his mother and whatnot. Meanwhile, the two of them had left the inn with intentions of confirming Vincent's claims. Cissnei had gone a little ways from Zack so he couldn't pose a blatant security risk, and he had kept watch.

“So that leaves us with someone who looks a lot younger than he claims, who knows the name and positions of Shinra personnel, and a supposed claim to being Seph's godfather.” Zack sighed, shaking his head.

“He could be,” Cissnei frowned thoughtfully, “This was before either of us were born, and he doesn't quite seem human. I think everyone knows that Hojo is an extremely twisted individual, I wouldn't put it past him to lie about a person's death and experiment on them.”

“It's looking like he lied about Seph's mom, that's for sure. Do we know what happened to Professor Crescent at all?” Zack replied.

“No. I imagine there are records somewhere, but we don't necessarily have access to them.” the redhead sighed back.

Silence fell between them, both staring off in different directions.

“... Hey, Cissnei?” Zack prompted.

“Hmm?”

“Killing Genesis won't necessarily stop his clones,” he confessed, “There's still an active Angeal clone in the Sector Five slums. Tseng and I had been keeping that a secret since it seems to be pretty... domestic, I guess. So if Genesis still has clones out there, executing him might not stop him from sending out some kind of posthumous command.”

“So it's in our best interests to make him cooperate, then.”

Before either of them could continue, he picked up an out-of-place rustle. Holding a hand up to Cissnei, Zack turned his head in the direction of the noise. There were any number of things it could be, but if it was a spy, a Genesis clone, or a monster, then they needed to get rid of it.

“— a jerk.”

Zack relaxed, sighing, when he heard Tifa's voice.

“I'm sorry, okay? I... didn't want you to think I was stupid.” Cloud's voice answered gloomily as the rustling continued. It sounded like the two hadn't realized Zack and Cissnei were there, skirting around the edge of town to avoid being seen.

“I think you are now! You could've told me, it's not like I'm going to go sharing it all over town!” Tifa declared as the two moved past Zack and Cissnei. “Jeez. I was getting worried you'd died.”

“I keep getting rejected every time I apply. And they don't tell you why you're being rejected, so it's not like I can really fix whatever is wrong...”

“So get your friend to pull some strings! I mean, he's a commander, right, he's gotta have some sway over that stuff!”

“Zack's only a lieutenant commander, and I couldn't ask him to abuse his power like that...”

The two kept moving, the conversation fading out as they did.

“They're cute.” Cissnei commented.

“I probably could recommend him for SOLDIER at this point, provided it's not anything major holding him back,” Zack reasoned, leaning back on his heels as he crossed his arms, “He's been present for a lot of big missions. There was Modeoheim, where he was able to keep up in the mountain, wasn't too fazed by the helicopter crash, and was able to fight his way through the clones well enough that he was able to pursue Hollander for a bit. In Junon, he was kinda out of it with motion sickness, but I hear his squad was one of the ones that faired the best in the clone-attack. And now he's here, handling my panic attack, Seph's insanity, the grueling treks all over the place, and the monster killing... If nothing else, he's got guts. He might be on the small side, but he's scrappy enough that he makes up for it.”

“If nothing else, the Turks might grab him. We don't have as many qualms about small people as your department does.” Cissnei put forward with a shrug.

“I don't know if Turks are exactly the heroic work he's looking for, but yeah.” Zack shrugged back. “But anyway, about Genesis...”


	13. Chapter 13

“Yo, Zack!” Reno waved, grinning cheekily. “Hear you mutinied!”

“Heya, Reno.” Zack smiled back as they approached the helicopter. “There gonna be room for all of us in there?”

“So long as you're not hiding any additional people, there should be just enough room.” Cissnei answered.

“Not that I'm aware of. Gonna be kinda cramped, but that's fine. Aah, make sure Cloud gets a window-seat.” Zack declared. The trooper mumbled a sheepish thank-you. “Should we get going, then?”

“Probably for the best, Nibel's weather is a fuckin' nightmare even when it's calm. What the fuck is up with that, yo?” Reno agreed, already sliding into the pilot's seat.

Zack stood to the side, waving everyone else in first. Genesis and Sephiroth, Vincent and the other two troopers, Cloud and Cissnei, and then Zack hopped inside. It really was cramped— it looked like Genesis and Sephiroth may have been sharing thigh-space, and Vincent was definitely contorting a bit. Lucky Reno and Cissnei getting to sit up front, even if it looked like they were sacrificing some leg-room for the greater good. Zack closed the door, put on the headset Cissnei passed him, and wedged himself in beside Cloud. Helicopters were not designed for this many people. Carriers, sure, but those were carriers and were designed for the pilots, an officer or two, twenty-odd infantry or SOLDIERs, and maybe a medic. Not the Turk helicopters designed for six people max.

“So,” Reno half-yowled as they took off, “Do I ever get to hear the story of Zack's coup?”

“Ask Cissnei,” Zack replied, “She has my report!”

“Focus on flying, Reno.” Cissnei said preemptively.

“Please don't crash.” Cloud piped up, face deadpan as he stared resolutely out the window.

“Hey, I take offense to that!” Reno gasped dramatically.

Zack chuckled a bit as banter went up around the chopper. It was going to be a long flight, and they were going to be getting to Midgar around midnight due to the time-change. Settling back as much as he could without pushing anyone else around, Zack closed his eyes with the intent of taking a nap. It had been a long week and a draining past few days. Chances were he'd be doing a fair bit of sleeping for the foreseeable future, just letting his brain's chemistry fix itself as much as possible.

Angeal had been taken aback by it, he remembered. Whenever they had a mission that was going to be a long ride away, the man would always voice his surprise that Zack was able to fall asleep so quickly on transport. It wasn't every time, only if he was drained or hadn't gotten a full night's sleep, but it happened. No one expected it of him, given ‘how utterly bouncy’ he was, but Zack had learned the hard way, back when he was a Third, that if he felt at all tired or drained, he should sleep in transport. It made doing anything else a pain otherwise.

He didn't sleep the entire flight, dreamless and punctuated by snippets of the others' voices. Near the tail end, he woke up, attempted to stretch, and clonked a dozing trooper on the head. Zack murmured a hasty apology, but it didn't look like the contact had even registered.

Looking around, he found that most of the people in the helicopter were asleep. Peering into the back revealed a pair of glowing green eyes and one of red, and Reno was naturally awake too, but otherwise it looked like everyone had dozed off. Cissnei had her arms crossed over her chest. Cloud was slumped against the window, possibly drooling a little. The other two troopers appeared to be propping each other up. Genesis was resting his head on Sephiroth's shoulder. Zack couldn't blame any of them.

“Someone please tell me Seph slept at some point,” he said as quietly as the noise pollution would allow, “Or that he at least closed his eyes and pretended.”

“I'm fine, Zack.” Sephiroth answered.

“I will come back there and knock you out myself if I have to.” Zack warned, already shifting.

“No rough-housing during flight, gentlemen!” Reno cackled, sounding extremely caffeinated. “Besides, we're almost there!”

Twisting back around, Zack saw that the redhead was right. The smoggy, glowing tiered mass that was Midgar was just over the horizon. He never thought he'd be so happy to be back in polluted air that blocked out the stars, but compared to the inherent wrongness about the air in Nibelheim? Zack would take the mako-tang and garbage-stench any day.

Before long, he was poking everyone else awake, letting them know that they'd be landing shortly. He debated stretching back to shake Genesis, but Sephiroth shrugged his shoulder ever-so-slightly and the disgraced SOLDIER instantly snapped awake. Zack wondered if that meant Genesis was a light sleeper or if he had frequently borrowed the general's shoulder in the past.

Once they had landed on the tower's heli-pad, Zack was pretty sure everyone groaned with relief upon getting out. He couldn't help but stretch out in every direction he possibly could before trotting over to meet the Turk emerging from the shadows.

“Hey, Tseng.” he nodded.

“Lieutenant Commander,” Tseng nodded back, “I see the clone remained docile.”

“Clone?” both Sephiroth and Genesis said sharply.

“Of course. Lieutenant Commander Fair has encountered multiple clones of convincing likeness and conscience when compared to the original Genesis Rhapsodos, only to discover that they weren't the original after defeating them. As such, we have no way of telling if this is the real Genesis or not, and should assume that we are dealing with another clone.” Tseng explained.

“I'm not— ow!” Genesis began to snarl, but broke off when Cissnei delivered a kick to the back of his knee on her way past. Zack flashed her a discrete thumbs-up.

“Due to the circumstances, the Turks have decided that the best course of action, rather than execution, will be the detainment of the Genesis clone until confirmation of whether or not this is the real deal. However, due to the strength and volatile nature of the clones encountered in the past, the safest solution is for General Sephiroth to take custody of the clone.”

Understanding bloomed on both their faces at the same time as Tseng finished his explanation. As they looked to him, Zack shrugged idly, declaring, “Makes sense to me. So long as I'm not doing the paperwork.”

“Of course. I understand that my agent has your report, Lieutenant Commander. You may leave.” Tseng said dismissively.

Zack nodded. Smiling and taking a moment to ruffle Cloud's hair, he left the heli-pad. He was going to shower, email Kunsel, and then he was heading over to Aerith's church.


	14. Chapter 14

The door groaned open, and the Angeal clone lifted it's head. Given how it wasn't growling or attacking or anything, that drastically narrowed down who it could be.

“Hi, Tseng.” Zack greeted, not getting up from where he was sprawled haphazardly over a mostly-intact pew.

“You're building up quite the debt for yourself.” the Turk replied, appearing over the back of the bench.

“At this point, as long as you don't make me raze another town, I'm liable to do whatever. Thanks for everything, by the way.” Zack waved off as the clone lay back down.

Tseng raised an eyebrow, leaning over the pew slightly as he rested his arms on the back of it. “Everything?”

“Yeah. Taking my report, reminding me about the time-change, sending Cissnei and Reno my way, and postponing any drastic Genesis-related actions.” Zack nodded.

“If we can convince him to cooperate with us and reveal where Hollander is, how he's been making clones—”

“Yeah yeah,” Zack waved dismissively before letting his arm drop, “Just take my gratitude.”

For a while, they were quiet. The clone nosed at Zack's limp hand, and he indulged in scratching between it's ears. Even though it was technically Angeal, it was also technically still a dog, and Zack could never refuse a pup asking for pets.

“... The Turk you found, Valentine,” Tseng said suddenly, “Was apparently the partner to our director, Veld Verdot.”

“... Well shit. Do I get the full story or am I gonna hafta chase down Reno for the gossip version?” Zack asked.

“We don't know the full story yet. He came with us to our floor, and the second our director saw him... Turks aren't superstitious, but he looked like he'd seen a ghost. I knew that you had Cissnei call about his existence, but I hadn't thought that meant you actually found the man.” Tseng said, staring off into space.

“So chase down Reno for the gossip version when I file for leave tomorrow. Gotcha.” Zack nodded.

That seemed to snap Tseng out of whatever daze he was in, because a small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “I imagine that's the version most will hear, yes.”

“Reno and Kunsel should just get a column in Shinra's newspaper and run a weekly gossip article.”

That got a more proper smile, Tseng visibly relaxing just a hair. As if in response, the Angeal clone wagged it's tail, armored segments clattering against the broken stone floor.

“Kinda reminds me, though,” Zack said with a grunt, heaving himself into a slightly more upright position, “Why do some Turks not seem to have partners? Isn't that kinda a thing in your department? But some of 'em, like you and Cissnei, don't seem to have one.”

“It's a matter of compatibility,” Tseng answered calmly, “Not just personal fighting styles and skill-sets, but also personalities. Sometimes there just aren't people to match, so the lone individual will get paired off as required from mission to mission.”

“... I was expecting something grisly, like that your partners had died, but that's actually a really good reason. Like, I know you guys have just as high of a mortality rate as the rest of us, but SOLDIER and the infantry don't do that.” Zack hummed thoughtfully. He wondered if there was a way to possibly set up a similar system within SOLDIER.

“There are fewer Turks than there are of almost every other department,” Tseng replied, shrugging, “It's one of the only reasons we're able to take the time to pair everyone off so carefully. Additionally, our field of work is different from yours.”

That was very true. Just from what little Zack had seen of Turk work, it was a lot more subtle. Less headlong into the problem. He had done what he considered plenty of missions with them, and as a result had honed some less SOLDIER-like skills. By this point, Zack felt he was the sneakiest SOLDIER, second only to the general himself.

“You know,” he sighed, flopping back down, “I realized it when Cissnei showed up in Nibelheim, but... somewhere along the line, I think I became closer to the Turks than I did most of SOLDIER. Like, there's Kunsel. And I promised Angeal I'd take care of Seph. There's a handful of promising guys. But... I dunno. I dunno what happened.”

Tseng didn't respond for a while. Zack was admittedly somewhat surprised when the man reached down and carded through his hair a few times before straightening up. “It's a dangerous sentiment to have, but you've certainly endeared yourself to quite a number of people.”

Zack couldn't help but reach up to touch his head where Tseng had pet him as the Turk turned away. He might've expected that from Cissnei. Maybe sarcastically from Reno. But from Tseng? That was kinda weird.

The doors groaned again, followed by the heavy, dull thud of them closing. Zack was left alone with the Angeal clone and the flowers.

After a minute, he rolled onto his side. The clone lifted it's head to meet his eyes, wings shifting a bit. Without saying anything, he reached out and began to stroke down it's neck from between it's ears. It wasn't like petting a normal dog, with segmented, almost scale-like armor instead of fur, but Zack kept going. It blinked slowly at him, pure metallic eyes betraying nothing. Sometimes he questioned if it was actually alive, or if it was some kind of machine. But it had soft paw-pads and leathery skin on it's legs and belly. It ate and drank. It knew the difference between human and monster. It could identify threats. It even knew not to step on the flowers.

“I miss you, Angeal,” Zack told the clone, “And I can tell they do too.”


	15. Chapter 15

This, Zack had decided, was stupid.

Apparently, there was a draft being issued for SOLDIER. For SOLDIER. A draft. That wasn't how SOLDIER worked, Heidegger, Shinra. Hojo, probably, but Hojo always deserved spite.

Also, Cloud was being held back from SOLDIER because his sword technique ‘needed work,’ and his materia handling was ‘amateurish.’ Of course the technique needed work, the kid had probably never used one before, not to mention didn't yet have the muscle for the massive lumps of steel! And of course his handling with materia wasn't on a pro level, no one's was! It took years of training to get to where most SOLDIERs were! Materia was expensive, not everyone could afford to just buy ten of them and train every day!

Zack was recommending the kid for SOLDIER. He had seen Cloud in action multiple times, and the blonde's test-scores weren't too terrible— in fact, after he dug up his own records for comparison, Zack found that he had done similar to Cloud in almost everything. He was betting that the test-overseers were just lazy and there for the paycheck. How many SOLDIER potentials were getting turned down like this because of that? When they had a shortage still this long after Genesis and his mass-desertion? He was going to have to point the fact out to Sephiroth, he bet that with a better test-overseer they wouldn't even ‘need’ the stupid draft.

As he was filling out the paperwork for the recommendation, Zack heard his phone beep with an email. Expecting Kunsel— his friend was apparently stationed in Junon right now, bummer— he pulled it out to take a look. Surprisingly, it was a response to his request for leave.

The plastic of his phone creaked under his fingers.

Taking a deep breath, Zack pocketed his phone and finished the paperwork for Cloud. If there was a huge smear on one corner from a crushed pen, that was his business and no one else's. Once that was done, he delivered the paperwork to the admissions office, then headed for Heidegger's office. The ink on his glove left purplish stains on doorknobs and elevator-buttons.

Reaching the executive floor, Zack asked the first person he saw where Heidegger's office was in an icy, even tone. The poor woman pointed and fled. Zack felt bad for scaring her, but he could feel that tense little bubble getting thinner and thinner again.

As he neared the door in question, Zack realized he could hear laughter inside the office. It sounded like Scarlet was in there too.

The secretary of the office looked up when he came in, already asking if she could help. Zack ignored her and stormed in, letting the door slam so hard it bounced off the wall.

“What's the meaning of this, SOLDIER?!” Heidegger barked as Scarlet held a dramatic hand up to her chest.

“I'm taking leave, sir.” Zack replied scathingly, striding over to loom over the desk.

“Lieutenant Fair, huh? Already denied it.” the man scoffed, waving dismissively. “Not enough of you super-freaks running around any more, we need—”

“We need better test-overseers, not your stupid draft.” Zack said sharply, not bothering to correct the man on his rank. The two execs blinked at him, not apparently expecting him to be so bold as to cut Heidegger off. “Comparing my entry scores to those of current rejects of the SOLDIER program, there is little difference, which implies to me that the people you assigned as overseers aren't doing their jobs. If we had competent overseers, we'd have a halfway decent number of new recruits ready to go today, but instead we're waiting for a draft to go into effect when more than half the people it will bring in will just die due to mako-poisoning anyway. Or didn't you know, sir, that if SOLDIER cadets aren't tested for mako intake rates after passing the entry test, they get turned into vegetables?”

It was close. It was very close. He was going to need to find a monster or two to kill before going to see Aerith.

“Hrmph. I fail to see what this has to do with your not taking leave.” Heidegger said, obviously disgruntled. Scarlet was watching with her head tipped to the side.

“If you fix your overseers, sir,” Zack all but growled, “Then we wouldn't be short-handed, would we?”

“Your director already said no, sweetie,” Scarlet crooned, “You should just go back to work.”

He slammed his fist down on Heidegger's desk, denting and splintering a good chunk of the wood as the two execs yelped in fright.

“With all due respect,” Zack hissed, “I was sent on a crackpot mission, effectively stranded on a mountain, had to deal with my commanding officer going insane, fought a Genesis clone, literally woke the dead at one point, was then shoved in a can of sardines for the flight back here, and have been denied the ability to see my girlfriend for two weeks. I would like to see you put up with a half-insane Sephiroth or fight Genesis barehanded on top of mako mutants and then not take a week off! One way or another, I'm taking leave, and I would like to see either of you stop me!”

After a tense moment where the two stared with wide eyes, Heidegger nodded.

Huffing, Zack left the office, slamming the door behind. Two steps away, he turned and kicked it back open. “And if you're seriously going to be the director of SOLDIER, get a damn metal desk! Pissed off SOLDIERs don't care how expensive that wood was when they're making complaints!” he barked before yanking the door shut so hard he tore away the doorknob. Muttering an apology to the trembling secretary, he threw the mangled doorknob in the trash and stalked away.

He missed Lazard.


	16. Chapter 16

“It's okay,” Aerith said gently, combing her fingers through his hair, “Just don't think about it.”

Zack was sprawled on the church-floor, hugging Aerith's midriff with his face buried in her stomach. She had yet to ask what was upsetting him, but she never really did. She only ever told him that if he needed to talk, she was willing to listen. And ugh, how he needed that.

“Sometimes,” he grunted, flailing around until he was on his back with his head in her lap, “I wonder if Angeal and Genesis had the right idea. I mean... ugh!”

He stretched his hands up in a throttling gesture.

“You like Tseng well enough. And this Cloud and Kunsel.” Aerith reasoned.

“Tseng and the Turks are fine. Yeah, okay, they do some pretty unscrupulous things, but they've helped me out time and time again, so they get a free pass. Cloud is a good kid, and Kunsel... well, honestly I kinda think he's just along for the ride. He has every right to move up to First Class but keeps rejecting the offer.” Zack sighed, dropping one hand to the ground and moving the other to brush Aerith's hair from her face.

She smiled, patting his cheek. “So not everyone's bad, just like you've said all along, hm?”

He could feel the tension draining out of him. “I love you.” he sighed, reveling in not having to do anything or be anyone. Yes, Zack had sought SOLDIER out, had run away from home to join. Yes, he wanted to be a hero, someone who could help people in need. But sometimes he didn't want to be Lieutenant Commander Zack Fair, or SOLDIER First Class Zack, or even Zack the puppy. Sometimes he just wanted to be Zack, who needed hugs and cried and didn't have to live up to anyone's expectations. As greedy as that was, he would always be eternally grateful to Aerith for providing that.

Aerith leaned over, planting the gentlest kiss ever on the tip of his nose. “I love you too.”

“I'm sorry for being such a pain all the time. How were things while I was gone?” Zack sighed, catching one of her hands in his and tracing her knuckles with his thumb.

“Oh, not nearly as exciting,” she smiled, “I've been thinking that maybe we need to name him.”

Blinking, Zack rolled into a sitting-position so he could point to the clone. “Him?”

“Mhmm.” Aerith nodded brightly, getting up and crossing the church so she could pet the clone's head. “It must be demeaning, to only ever be referred to as a clone. We should name him.”

“You have a point, I guess.” Zack conceded.

“We could just call him Angeal.” she said, still bright despite the soft yet evident caution in her tone.

He cupped his chin in his hands, watching her pet the clone. It was wagging it's tail again, head bowing just a bit so Aerith's fingers were dipping between the plates on it's neck just a touch more.

“That feels weird,” Zack sighed at length, “Thanks for the suggestion, and I totally understand where you're coming from, but... even if it has his genes and will, and is technically him as a result... I dunno. Not Angeal.”

“Alright,” Aerith nodded sagely, “Not Angeal.”

A thought popped into his head, and Zack stood, grinning, “We could do a flower name.”

She giggled as he crossed over to them. “You're not worried that'll be too girly?”

“I bet there are lots of really manly flower names!” he shot back. “How about Coriander?”

“No way, you'll get hungry every time you say it! How about Gladiolus?” Aerith laughed.

Zack considered it. That was a pretty manly-sounding name. He had no clue what gladiolus flowers were or what they looked like, but it was definitely tough-sounding. Sword-y, too.

“... I like it. Gladiolus it is.” he smiled, patting the clone's head. It blinked up at them, wings shifting just a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so my reasoning for the name  
> 1) Gladiolus are my third-favorite flower after sweetpeas and hydrangeas  
> 2) One of the meanings of gladiolus in the language of flowers is ‘take care of yourself for me,’ and ‘I'm really sincere’  
> 3) Zack may not know what a gladiolus is but I'm positive he knows what a gladius is— a kind of short sword  
> 4) The FFXV reference heck off it's my story I control the details


	17. Chapter 17

“Fresh flowers!” Zack called, leaning lazily against the cart, “Five gil a stalk!”

Maybe most wouldn't consider working the most romantic of dates. But Zack just liked spending time with Aerith, no matter what they were doing. And she had wanted to sell flowers today, so they were selling flowers. Simple as that.

Although the idea to hitch Gladiolus to the cart was certainly making them more eye-catching.

A few people approached, asking if the flowers were real and if he really only wanted five gil a stalk. He didn't make as many sales as there were queries, but he imagined he'd be skeptical too. Nothing grew in Midgar, and greenery tended to cost an arm and a leg. But if they kept at it, they'd get there one day.

Aerith returned from her bathroom run right as he finished a sale. The little girl waved hello to Aerith as she ran back to her mother, proudly showing off the flower she'd bought.

“Selling behind my back, Mr. Fair?” Aerith teased.

“Oh no,” Zack gasped, clapping a hand to his chest, “I've been caught! Whatever shall I do!”

Aerith laughed, reaching out to boop his nose. He grinned and handed over the gil earned.

“Fifteen!” she exclaimed in surprise, eyes wide. “You didn't just slip your own gil in, did you?”

“No way! That's all Aerith's hard-won flower money!” Zack declared with a grin.

“Fifteen gil used to be all I would earn in a day if I was lucky!” Aerith murmured.

“Well, the more people buy your flowers when they realize they're real and not a scam, the more they tell other people, and the more other people become willing to buy! Just watch, one day you'll be raking in thousands of gil a day!” he replied, pulling her into a hug.

“Oh, don't be silly,” she giggled as she pulled free and began walking, “No one's going to pay that much for flowers!”

“You're right,” Zack nodded sternly as Gladiolus pulled the cart after them, “Millions.”

Aerith broke down laughing.

Before he could say anything else, Zack's phone rang. He sighed apologetically, but Aerith waved him off. While he was on leave, there was a chance of it being something important, like a terrorist cell kidnapping the president or something. If it was anything else, Zack would tell them to piss off, but this was his job.

“Fair speaking.” he huffed.

“Where are you?” Sephiroth's voice asked.

“On a date, why.”

Sephiroth gave a short, awkward, “Oh.”

There was a stretch of silence where Zack began to tap his foot. Aerith gave him a quizzical look as she offered Gladiolus a treat, but he could only shrug.

“... I can call back later?” Sephiroth offered.

“No,” Zack sighed, “While I appreciate that you've asked and clearly listened when I yelled, let's just get it out of the way. What do you need?”

“... Be careful,” Sephiroth answered, making him frown, “I don't think any of us were supposed to return from that mission.”

“No kidding.” Zack huffed, turning to pet the clone as Aerith snagged a passerby with her sales-pitch.

“I've seen Hojo angry before, but when I went to see him... I wasn't aware humans could turn that color.”

He couldn't help the short bark of laughter that left him. “That livid, huh?”

“About that shade, yes.”

It was small things like that that Zack held over the Silver Elite or even other SOLDIERs. Sephiroth did have a sense of humor, it was just stunted. Or too abstract for the common fool to understand, Zack supposed. Sometimes Sephiroth would appear amused but refuse to elaborate on why.

Even though the general couldn't see, Zack shook his head with a dry smile. “Well, don't worry about me, Seph. I can take care of myself.”

“Right.” Sephiroth answered.

“Was that it, then?” Zack asked, following after Aerith and Gladiolus as they began to walk.

“I have nothing else. Aah... enjoy your date?”

He smiled, more gentle and less dry this time. “Thanks, Seph. See ya.”

“Need to go?” Aerith asked as Zack pocketed his phone.

“Nope.” Zack replied, popping the word. “I told you about that clusterfuck of a mission?”

She stifled a chuckle at the swear— he didn't usually, and she found the word creative, apparently— as she nodded.

“Seph doesn't think we were supposed to come back. I kinda thought it was obvious that something was up with that mission— none of us were qualified to fix a mako reactor, for starters. And then it turns out that the company deliberately sabotaged the things, or so says Genesis. But apparently when he went to see Hojo, Sephiroth said that the man got real pissed off. He wants me to be careful, that's all.” Zack explained as they kept walking. Gladiolus ruffled his wings as if unhappy with the news.

“Will you be okay?” Aerith frowned, stepping in front of him.

Zack couldn't help but smile gently. “I'm tougher than most give me credit for. Plus all my co-op missions with the Turks have given me some pretty good stealth and evasion skills. To be honest,” he said, reaching out to take her hands, “I'm more worried about you.”

She squeezed his fingers. “I have Gladiolus, don't I?” she hummed.

“Well, yeah, but... maybe I should give you some lessons. Just some basic hand-to-hand and materia work. Just in case.” Zack sighed.

“Ooh, that sounds fun!” Aerith declared, making him blink in surprise. “Let's do it!”

“What, now?”

“Why not?” she replied, eyes twinkling. “We've already made forty gil today!”

Her enthusiasm was contagious, and Zack found himself perking up. “Well, if milady insists!” he declared grandly, not caring how many people stared as he scooped Aerith up and twirled her around.


	18. Chapter 18

Zack sighed contentedly as he ambled towards the church.

Aerith was a fast learner, he'd give her that. She wasn't going to be SOLDIER material by any stretch of the imagination, but she'd be able to hold her own against any Hojo-sent nasties. Zack was looking forward to seeing how she progressed during his week of leave.

He'd just left her place with Gladiolus not that long ago. She and her mother had offered him a bed after dinner, but he'd declined. Maybe next time, he'd apologized. While he appreciated the offer, and he would love nothing more than to sleep in a bed, sleep in his girlfriend's house like family, he still wanted some space after the hell mission. He had his time off, he had Aerith, but space and alone-time were just as important. Zack wanted a little more of that before he tried spending the night at their place.

But oh, if the worst thing to happen this week was Sephiroth interrupting their date with a brief warning, Zack would be happy as a clam.

Of course, the universe seemed to exist to spite him, because no sooner than the thought had crossed his mind, Gladiolus stopped with a growl.

Zack stopped as well, surveying his surroundings. He couldn't see anything immediate, so he glanced to the clone. Gladiolus was staring at the church, only a stone's throw away. The canine's tail was lashing, feathers fluffed up.

Dropping to a crouch, Zack hushed the clone. Thankfully, Gladiolus stopped. A quick glance around, and Zack found a piece of rusty rebar that would stand in well enough as a sword. If he could use a parasol to fend off Genesis copies, he imagined he could use a dinged-up piece of metal to fend off Hojo's cronies. Minding how his feet fell on the ground, he picked the rebar up and began to slink towards the church.

He couldn't see anyone moving around inside, or hear anything. But better safe than sorry.

With a silent command to wait, Zack left Gladiolus at the front door. Impromptu weapon in hand, he crept around the side until he could find a place to climb up and peek through the damaged wall.

Vincent was staring at him from the middle of the church.

“... Your technique needs work.” the man said blandly, earning a scoff from someone else. Blinking in confusion, Zack hauled himself half over the wall and looked down to find a strange man in the Turk uniform almost directly under him.

“That's generous. Going soft, Vince?” the man muttered.

“... I hope neither of you stepped on the flowers,” Zack said, unable to process what was happening well enough to say anything else, “Aerith gets real upset when the flowers get damaged.”

Neither of the men said anything in response to that, though Zack could sense the eye-roll from the Turk below him.

A touch indignant at being brushed off, he added, “And maybe warn me next time! I was fully prepared to bash someone's head in! If I were any jumpier I might actually have done it!”

“Unlikely. Do you have a dog?” Vincent asked, looking towards the doors.

Zack grunted, scrabbling over the wall and jumping into the church. Upon landing, he called, “Here boy!”

Gladiolus, after a few seconds, gracefully swooped into the church through the broken roof. Landing neatly next to Zack, the clone looked back and forth between Vincent and the mystery Turk, still bristling.

“It's okay,” Zack soothed, petting down the canine's neck, “I kinda doubt they mean any harm.”

The mystery Turk left the wall and moved closer. Zack tightened his grip on the rebar when he noticed the man examining Gladiolus intently.

“A clone, huh.” the Turk humphed.

“... His name is Gladiolus.” Zack said, perhaps a bit defensively.

The man blinked, raising an eyebrow. “... Like the flower.”

“It's a good strong manly name,” Zack shot back, “But also gentle and friendly. Just like Angeal was.”

“Can't argue that logic now, can I...” the man muttered. It sounded condescending. “And what does Gladiolus here do, exactly.”

After a moment spent glaring, Zack relented. Flopping over on one of the pews, he replied, “Mostly keeps my girlfriend safe from monsters. Although we figured out how to hitch him to her cart today, so he can get a little more exercise than usual.”

“Hm. I suppose I can't fault Tseng for leaving a pet dog out of his reports.” the mystery Turk muttered.

... Wait.

“Wait, holy shit, are you Veld?” Zack gasped, eyes wide as he sat bolt-upright.

“And if I am?” the man snarked, and Zack swore he heard a tiny snort come from Vincent.

“Am I in that much trouble for trashing Heidegger's desk?”

Veld seemed to freeze, staring incredulously.

“If he's anything like he was twenty years ago,” Vincent hummed, drifting closer in an eerie, not-quite-human way, “Then he probably had it coming. We didn't step on the flowers, by the way.”

“Cool, thanks for that.” Zack nodded, reaching out to pet Gladiolus. The canine seemed to finally be relaxing, and dipped it's head so he could get between the plates. “So what insane mission am I ditching my leave for this time? I didn't expect Tseng to cash in that favor so early...”

“He didn't.” Veld said gruffly, seeming to have recovered. “What do you know about the Turks, Lieutenant Commander?”

He blinked, not entirely understanding. Still, Zack began racking his brain for what the man could be looking for. This was the director of the Turks, it felt like he was taking the weirdest test of his life... and he'd passed the Silver Elite entry quiz.

“... Probably not whatever you're looking for, sir.” he finally answered, letting the rebar drop to the ground.

Veld grunted.

“Admitting a lack of knowledge is a feat itself, Veld,” Vincent commented placidly, “And I suspect, in his case, an admission of being ready to learn.”

Zack chose to take that as a compliment. It sounded like a bland observation, but it had been a hell of a week. He'd take what he could get.

“The Turks are loyal to the company,” Veld said, drawing his attention, “Not necessarily to the board of directors. If any of them were to overstep their bounds, it would be our job to remove them.”

Zack crossed his arms, murmuring, “I see where you're going...”

“Turks take care of their own,” Veld continued darkly, “But even without that, a certain professor is clearly no longer acting in the interest of the company. He just moved to retrieve a large specimen from Nibelheim... that sounds like it might be the reason you were sent to begin with.”

He grimaced. “And what exactly are we planning here?”

The Turk director gave a small huff, crossing his own arms. “Might be hope for you as a Turk yet. If the top two SOLDIERs were out of Midgar on mission, it would be the perfect time for a terrorist cell to act, and similarly be the most unfortunate time for a malfunction in the experiment specimen holding cells.”

“So Seph and I go on a bogus mission again?” Zack asked, bouncing his knee thoughtfully.

“And your apprehension of Genesis provides a perfect one.” Veld nodded, glancing to Vincent. Zack did the same and found the bizarre man locked in a staring match with Gladiolus. “At the end of your leave, the two of you will be heading to Banora in order to put a halt to Genesis's terrorism and either apprehend or execute Hollander.”

So not entirely bogus. Zack was guessing that Genesis cooperated at least a smidgen.

“And how long until Hojo gets his specimen?” he frowned.

“Unless he decides to go personally, we can delay the transfer of orders. However, if he goes personally... well, that provides all sorts of openings for us.” Veld replied in a vicious tone.

“Gotcha. Well, I'll be waiting on the fake mission, but until then I'm not budging.” Zack nodded, rearranging himself so he was lying down on the pew.

“... Understandable.” Vincent hummed. It looked like the guy was still staring at Gladiolus.

“Oh, and before you go,” Zack said, waving a hand, “Flowers are five gil a stalk.”


	19. Chapter 19

“That's not believable in the slightest,” Aerith declared as he handed her the gil, “Two Turks appeared in the night and bought a hundred flowers after cuing you in on an assassination.”

“They were really amused that I was plugging your floristry business while we were in the middle of planning a murder. They said they'd get the flowers for his funeral.” Zack chuckled.

“They won't be fresh or pretty by then...”

“I don't think they meant it seriously, but if they did then that was probably the idea.” Zack hummed. “Are we going out today or did you want to stay here? Or I could take you to a theater show or something?”

“Five-hundred gil...” Aerith murmured, staring incredulously at the money in her hand.

“We could probably get you a materia with that if you wanted.” Zack smiled.

That made her perk up. “You did say you'd train me. Can we really, though? That seems a little cheap for materia...”

“It's a little shady, but I found this one dealer who sells low-level materia for real cheap. They tend to be small and lumpy, instead of the perfect spheres everyone likes, but I've found a few gems there. I barely even use the Shinra-issued materia on my missions, honestly. I keep finding stuff, and if I find it I can keep it. That's how I got Ifrit, Bahamut, and... I haven't tested out my new summon yet, but I dredged one out of Nibelheim's water-tower.” Zack explained.

Aerith nodded. She was genuinely riveted on the conversation, making him smile.

“The most common stuff is magic materia— not only is it the easiest the produce, but I guess it takes the least time to form naturally. So that's largely what this guy sells, little lumps of magic materia like the size of my thumb. Occasionally he'll have a good independent, though, so it's worth checking out. If it makes you feel better, though, I can swing by the SOLDIER housing and grab my materia. We could pick a few out for you from those.” he suggested.

After a moment spent thinking, Aerith declared, “Why don't we stop by and see, first? If there's nothing worth it, then you can get yours and I can steal some of it!”

“You don't get my steal materia.” Zack joked with a grin. She laughed in reply.

As they exited the church, Gladiolus left sniffing through the flowers— possibly after a mouse or something— Zack spotted Tseng nearby. Probably intending to shadow them and make sure they didn't get up to too much trouble. He knew Aerith saw the man too, but he didn't know if she caught the lily in Tseng's breast-pocket. Zack hoped that all the Turks had flowers in their uniforms today. People would stare so much, wondering what event they missed to cause that.

Zack led Aerith to the little back-alley stall he'd found by chance one time, and the two of them began browsing the available materia. The only worthwhile one they were able to find was an oblong little enemy away that the dealer offered to attach to a pendant and turn into a necklace for a few extra gil. They went back and forth over the idea for a while before ultimately deciding to do it. That would help keep any monsters away from Aerith— not completely, but it would help— and given that it was a wonky little crystal pendant, people like Hojo wouldn't expect her to have an enemy away. That was the big benefit Zack had found to these misshapen materia, anyway. They looked a lot like uncut precious gems, and were easily mistaken as petty jewelry. Anyone who stripped you of materia tended to overlook them.

“So you'll have to run back anyway, huh...” Aerith hummed as they started to walk back towards the church. She was wearing the necklace— a simple but sturdy chain with the materia in a little wire cage— and fiddling with the stone.

“My materia are a higher quality than that stuff. I've gotten some of them to unlock additional spells, too. I figured you might like to try it on your own instead of being handed something like that.” Zack smiled reassuringly.

She smiled back, bumping his shoulder with her own before catching his hand. He couldn't help but grin, swinging their joined hands a little.

After dropping Aerith off at the church where both Tseng and Gladiolus could keep an eye on her, Zack headed back to headquarters. He was thinking of focusing on things like barrier and seal, while including one or two healing materia and a couple different elemental ones. Maybe add in a sense, if he had one to spare. And he'd have to make sure he gave her one of his spare bracers. He had a couple chokers, if that was more her style. Not rings, he didn't think. Those tended to only have one available slot.

As he arrived at the building, though, Zack walked almost literally smack into Sephiroth.


	20. Chapter 20

“Well that explains the crowds...” Zack sighed.

“Sorry.” Sephiroth replied, turning to follow after him as he walked.

“Have you just been camping in the lobby waiting for me or something?” Zack asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes as they waited for the elevator.

“I've remembered to eat.” came the simple answer.

“I'm happy to hear that, even if I meant more about the swarms of people glaring daggers into my skull right now.” Zack sighed. He wasn't in uniform right now, so as far as all the creepy fans were concerned, their beloved general had just started talking and walking with some random person that they now envied. “But also what about Genesis?”

“The Turks have him right now. They're trying to complete the details for our mission to Banora.”

After saying that, Sephiroth looked warily over at him.

“It's directly after my week off ends, yeah? I got the basic stuff last night.” Zack hummed as the elevator arrived. Stepping on and mindful of who might be listening, he continued “They got a general location out of him, right? So we're supposed to go put an end to the attacks once and for all.”

“Yes. Though, if there's any unexpected developments we may be deployed sooner.” Sephiroth nodded. After a moment, the general looked at him and asked, “Where have you been staying? The Turks seem to know, but they won't tell me...”

Okay, so that was classified. Zack shrugged and simply said, “With my girlfriend.”

“But why wouldn't they tell me that...” Sephiroth puzzled.

“Maybe her mom's up to something. Maybe there's some shady activity nearby that you showing up would disturb and ruin their work. Maybe they're trying to keep me from flying off the handle again by waylaying anything work-related from reaching me. Or maybe I asked them to as a favor.” Zack suggested.

“... Sorry.”

“I didn't.”

Sephiroth blinked, looking like a confounded cat. “... Oh...?”

“Anyway, I doubt you were camping the lobby just to tell me about an upcoming mission.” Zack said, smoothly changing the subject as they arrived at the floor he wanted.

“... No. I wanted to confirm that you filed a recommendation. Those have been falsified in the past.” the general replied as he followed Zack towards his lodgings.

“If it has a great big smear on one corner, I filed it.” he nodded as he unlocked the door. Seeing Sephiroth's brow crease, he explained, “I broke a pen. If you really want to you can come in.”

After a split second of hesitation, the man stepped in after him. “Are you in the habit of breaking pens to identify your paperwork?” Sephiroth asked as Zack dug out his materia box from the dresser he stashed it in.

“Heidegger rejected my request for leave.” Zack replied, carrying the box to the couch. “Hey, if you were going to train a complete beginner in materia, mostly for defensive purposes, what would you choose to give them?”

“I don't think I'm the right person to ask. I was trained with powerful magic materia from the start, and am not entirely sure how to gauge someone else's aptitude accurately. Is that why Heidegger was sending off for a new desk?”

“Before I answer that, you can stop inspecting the couch like it's contaminated and sit. I know it's a shocker, but I do keep my stuff clean, even if it's not perfect. You really think Angeal woulda let me live in a sty?” Zack challenged, maybe a touch acidly. He was aware that people speculated on the state of his place regularly. General consensus was that it was a dump only he could navigate, but no one believed him when he protested that he did, in fact, keep things tidy. Maybe they got out of hand when he had missions back-to-back, but he did his best to keep things neat. Like, okay, maybe the shelves were a little cluttered, and his desk was disorganized, and his laundry tended to overflow or tip over. But the floor was visible and clean.

As stated, he imagined if Angeal had seen him living in a sloppy hovel, the man would've had an aneurysm. Good thing Angeal had known he cleaned before hearing any of those rumors.

Sephiroth didn't say anything, just sat down and folded his hands in his lap.

“Okay, so yes,” Zack answered as he picked out a couple different styles of bracer and a choker from the box, “I may or may not have told Heidegger that he should invest in a metal desk if he's serious about being the new director of SOLDIER. We didn't have nearly as many complaints when Lazard was in charge, but even he had a sturdier desk than the thing Heidegger had.”

“Yes, I imagine you have a point,” Sephiroth said plainly, watching him pick through his materia, “May I ask why you filed this recommendation?”

“Not so Cloud could save face with Tifa. I made him go come clean before we left Nibelheim. So stop thinking that.”

“I wasn't. Where did you get so many summons?”

“Genesis abandoned the Ifrit and Bahamut ones after using them, and since I picked them up post-mission, Shinra said that counted as me finding them, therefore I get to keep them. He stopped throwing them out afterwards. This one I found in Nibelheim's water-tower.” Zack answered.

Sephiroth reached out and gently laid a hand on the mystery third summon. “... Phoenix.”

“Cool. I would've taken the other Bahamut-y one that Genesis had on him when we arrested him, but the materia research people laid dibs to all his stuff. Which kinda sucks, because it looked like he had some really sweet spells on hand.” Zack sighed. He was aware that he was a bit of a pack rat, picking up so many stray materia and items, but there was always the chance of finding something cool and-or useful.

“I'm sure he'll be flattered to hear that. The recommendation?” Sephiroth prompted.

“I've been on three missions with Cloud. Every time, he's proven to be good to have around. First time we met was my mission in Modeoheim. After the crash, he was up and at 'em nice and quick, plus he wasn't fazed by the cold or the rough terrain. In fact, once we started encountering clones and other monsters, he held his own well enough to temporarily pursue Hollander.” Zack explained. It was a good first impression, no doubt about it.

“And the other two?” Sephiroth asked, looking thoughtful.

“Second time, we weren't technically assigned together. It was during the assault on Junon. I ran into the trooper squads and gave them all a rundown of the situation, then met back up with them afterwards to see how they had fared. Cloud was a little woozy from motion sickness, but his squad had fared the best overall. And the third was Nibelheim. Not only did he handle me the best, but when faced with an uncertain situation due to tension between his two commanding officers, he kept his head level. Plus, those mako-monsters were no joke and even if I did all the heavy lifting, all three of the troopers were a big help.” he replied, trying to sort his elemental materia based on strength. A good portion of his materia just stayed in the box, but he had plenty of options for what to give Aerith...

“He has been rejected multiple times now.” the general pointed out, and even if it was faulty, even if it was too blindly trusting, Zack wanted to dance because at least someone was taking this seriously.

The reminder, however, had him growling a bit.

Materia picked out, he closed the box with a snap. “I am going to return to my girlfriend and teach her about materia like I promised,” he said, voice not entirely level, “And you are going to go pull my entry records and the records of every rejected applicant since the Wutai War. Compare them, see just how different they are, and then tell me what you think about the test-overseers who keep rejecting Cloud.”

Sephiroth looked confused, but nodded, standing to leave. As Zack was replacing his materia box, however, the nearly-closed door swung back open.

“The blood in the town water-supply!” the general said, sounding scandalized. “It was dyed by the presence of a summon materia?!”

Again, he was pleased that Sephiroth appeared to have begun listening to him since his outburst. “That's what I found, yep. The red stopped shortly after I pulled the materia out.” he nodded, straightening up.

“For that to... someone had to have put it there, then...” Sephiroth muttered. Zack could tell the man was mentally bringing up the layout of the town, trying to figure out how a materia could have ended up in a water-tower.

“Well, Spiky said that sometimes mako would leak into the water, and that was part of why Nibelheim was so hardy. Maybe it was just decades in the making.” Zack shrugged, gathering the materia and equips he'd chosen from the table.

“... That's not any better.” Sephiroth said witheringly. “If that's the case, then it's no wonder there were so few active children, toddlers can't adjust to and overcome mako-poisoning.”

“Seph,” Zack advised, “Go pull the records.”


	21. Chapter 21

The week had progressed relatively smoothly. Aerith took to materia like a chocobo to racing, and was delighted with her bracer. They had gotten some white spray-paint to make it look less like outdated SOLDIER stuff, even if the inside layers had already flaked away from her wearing it nonstop.

On the third day of his leave, Zack had gotten two calls. The first was from Sephiroth, apologizing about doubting Cloud's recommendation and nearly ranting about how stupid the overseers were. The second was shortly after, from Kunsel. Apparently he'd gotten an email from the general asking him to take position as an admissions test-overseer due to his being a veteran SOLDIER who was, for the most part, always in or close to Midgar. Once he heard the reason, Kunsel laughed his ass off for a solid minute. The two of them had then swapped gossip for a bit.

The fourth day, Tseng came to buy some flowers while Zack and Aerith were taking a break from hand-to-hand. The stoic Turk left with a bouquet of fifteen lilies, plus one in his breast-pocket yet again. Zack wondered if the bouquet was going to other Turks even as Aerith freaked out over her eighty gil profit. She still laughed when he joked that they could bankrupt Shinra by getting the Turks to buy lots of flowers every day.

The fifth day was a little annoying due to some monsters deciding to make a nest near the church, but Aerith delighted in the chance to train with her materia and help him get rid of the ugly buggers. And Gladiolus clearly appreciated the exercise, too, so after that they went out selling flowers. There was one incident where someone from a different sector, clearly drunk and badly out of it, tried to grab Aerith's bracer, but a firm heel-of-the-hand to the nose and a good kick to the groin, took care of that. Zack was so proud of her that after he hustled the creep off, he quickly nipped above-Plate to get ice cream for them to share.

It was day six that shit decided it was a good time to hit the fan.

It began alright enough. Zack was helping Aerith make room for more flowers in the church by tidying up and removing chunks of broken marble to expose the soft dirt underneath. Aerith herself was weeding, watering, and all the other intricate gardening things that Zack hadn't yet learned. As they worked, Zack had been telling her stories about the places he'd gone on missions to.

He was in the middle of explaining why he wanted to visit Wutai again when relations were better that Gladiolus interrupted with a loud growl.

Zack grabbed his rebar and dashed over to Aerith, who was standing by with her materia flashing—

The door didn't fly open so much as it was blown. Vincent swept in, eyes flashing a dangerous gold color that made Zack's blood run cold. The man was followed by Sephiroth, Genesis, and Tseng.

“What happened?” Zack asked, recognizing the bundle Tseng was holding as his uniform and gear. And Genesis was holding the Buster Sword.

“Hojo moved Jenova without telling anyone,” Vincent said sharply, “It'll be here tonight.”

Aerith gave a full-bodied shudder at the name, prompting Zack to look at her in worry. But she shook her head, looking dazed.

“So what exactly are we doing?” he asked as he looked back to the intruders.

“All of you are headed to Banora for an emergency mission. If Jenova is as dangerous as we've been led to believe, then having Sephiroth or Genesis present is far from a wise idea. Not to mention some of the other files we've been digging up.” Tseng said with a grimace, tossing him his things.

“Sorry to do this in front of the flowers.” Zack told Aerith with a wan smile as he caught his things.

Thankfully it had the intended effect, because she snapped out of her daze to roll her eyes and reply, “Like you hadn't been doing the same thing all week.”

“Is that...?” Genesis trailed off as Zack began stripping down.

“Yeah.” he answered, voice muffled by the shirt he was pulling over his head. “His name is Gladiolus.”

The redhead let out a bark of laughter. “He would have appreciated that.”

As Zack began pulling on his SOLDIER top and kicking off his boots so he could change pants, Gladiolus moved to stand before Sephiroth and Angeal. The clone stood with wings folded, tail tucked, and head bowed. Neither man looked like they knew how to respond, standing stiller than statues and staring.

But there was no time for that. Fully dressed, Zack strode forward to take the Buster Sword.

“I picked out the materia I thought would be strongest,” Genesis said, still staring at Gladiolus, “You've quite the odd collection.”

“If we weren't in an emergency situation, I'd frisk you to make sure you hadn't stolen any, but thanks.” Zack huffed, taking quick stock of what the redhead had chosen. He found Ifrit, barrier, heal, full cure, added cut, and gravity. Not an overall bad combination, really. He wished he could have learned more from Genesis before he became a giant evil pigeon.

He nodded to Tseng, but the Turk surprised all of them by saying, “Miss Gainsborough, too.”

“Is that safe?” Zack blurted, gaze flicking to Sephiroth and Genesis. Vincent probably knew that Aerith was Cetra if he'd been hanging out with the Turks, but the other two... probably not yet. And Zack didn't know if he'd be penalized for revealing such things now.

“Safer than staying here. Hojo no longer appears to be willing to play along with the company.” Tseng said darkly.

Zack grew pale. As he turned to let Aerith take his hand, he didn't miss the momentary slits of Vincent's pupils. Whatever Hojo had done to the man, Zack felt very lucky, deep in his gut, that Vincent Valentine was on their side.


	22. Chapter 22

“Gladiolus showed up not long after Angeal died,” Zack explained over the noise of the helicopter, “He takes care of the people I'm not around to protect. Mostly Aerith.”

Did Angeal know about your bloodline?” Genesis asked, still stroking the clone. Zack didn't think either the redhead or the general wanted to let Gladiolus out of their sight. He understood, really— it was some last scrap of the man, alive, and feeling, even if only a little. It wasn't like the Buster Sword, an inanimate hunk of sharp and pointy death.

“Nope!” Reno yelled from the pilot's seat. “It was kinda a Turk secret, Zack only got in on it cuz he started getting kissy!”

Genesis hummed, a low note barely audible under all the noise.

“I would have liked to meet him,” Aerith commented gently, “From everything Zack has said, he sounds like a very nice man.”

“I suspect he would have liked you, as well.” Sephiroth nodded, looking vaguely spacey.

In effort to drag the conversation away from the impending gloom, Zack twisted to look at Vincent in the back. “Okay, but what about you? Wouldn't you want first crack at Hojo?”

The man had apparently calmed down. His eyes were no longer gold. He seemed less tense, too.

“... I wasn't here when he was younger. I want to make up for that.” Vincent's voice answered. Zack couldn't see his mouth moving thanks to that red cowl. It was a little creepy.

“Here for... Seph, you mean?” Zack asked, blinking.

He got a blink back.

“Are you really his godfather?” Zack tried.

“Nope!” Reno called cheerfully. “Overheard something about an affair, though! Maybe we should look into a paternity test!”

“The time frame is wrong,” Vincent said flatly, “Lucrecia and I had broken the affair off long before conception was confirmed.”

Zack couldn't help but notice that Sephiroth looked vaguely disappointed. He got the feeling that the general had already heard this story back in Nibelheim, but that didn't change the air of glumness.

Time to change the subject again. Not that he could think of many cheerful ones at the moment.

“It sucks that my first time bringing you to Banora is in the middle of a shitstorm,” Zack told Aerith, “I had hoped to do it later, when things had grown back a bit more...”

“Why did you want to bring her to Banora?” Genesis demanded suspiciously, eyes narrowing.

“Because the sky is bluest in Banora.”

Everyone else looked confused. Aerith reached out to take his hands with a gentle smile. “That's so sweet, Zack. Thank you.”

“I think you would've liked it. I wasn't exactly given time to sightsee, but it was a pretty place. Maybe when this has all blown over, you can see about regrowing everything.” Zack smiled back. That lit her up.

For a while, there was silence between everyone. Gladiolus shifted his head from Genesis's lap to Sephiroth's.

It wasn't going to be nearly as long of a flight. Nothing short, certainly, but not the flight from Nibelheim to Midgar. The helicopter was still cramped, but there was a little bit more leg room than last time since there weren't supplies crammed in the back, not to mention one fewer in the passenger-count. It was still going to be late and Zack was still going to stretch like a cat when he got out of the flying tin can.

After a long stretch of quiet, Aerith piped up, asking, “What is Jenova?”

“Why do you ask?” Sephiroth replied, one hand settled between Gladiolus's ears.

Aerith leaned closer to Zack, wrapping herself around his arm. He frowned at her vaguely upset expression, and reached over with his free hand to hug her.

“... My head got very loud when it was said before. It felt... bad.”

“Yo,” Reno butted in, twisting around to peer back at them, “You sayin' you've been leading Tseng on? All his reports say you can't access Cetra wisdom or whatever!”

Aerith pouted, and Zack stretched out to kick the back of the pilot's seat. “Focus on flying, you nut!” he scolded. The Turk stuck his tongue out, but turned back around as requested.

“I can... sort of hear the Planet,” Aerith admitted, looking down as if guilty, “But it's all just a loud jumble. It's like stepping into a room full of people where everyone's talking at once, and I can't make out a word anyone is saying.”

“It makes sense.”

Everyone turned their attention to Vincent, even Gladiolus.

The man blinked slowly, head tipping ever-so-slightly to the side. “You're only half Cetra, and no one knows if communing with the Planet was an innate or learned ability.” he said flatly.

“... Yeah, that's a good point,” Zack nodded, turning back, “Everyone's thought Cetra to be extinct for so long, and all of the stuff we do have is, like, largely speculation. If it is something you learn, then you're lacking in the teacher department. And therefore no one can blame you! Anyone who does will have to deal with me!”

A round of chuckles went up, and Zack couldn't help but smile.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thinks that introverts are thriving during lockdown, lemme tell you, I for one still require human interaction beyond my family and I am suffering.
> 
> Not to mention hyperstim has decided to be a bitch in the latest heatwave.

Zack didn't think himself a sadistic person, but hearing Hollander shriek when Gladiolus laid him out was immensely satisfying.

“Good boy, Gladdy!” Zack cheered, crossing the little lab to pat the clone's head. “So are we arresting or disposing?”

Hollander gave a frightened howl at his words, almost drowning out Genesis's bland, “He's rather outlived his usefulness, in all honesty.”

“G-Genesis!” the portly scientist begged, writhing under Gladiolus. “I-I'm working on the cure, I swear, I just need—”

“More time, raw J-cells, so on and so forth. Yes, so you have said how many times now?” the redhead scowled, turning away.

Zack had honestly wanted to kick himself when Genesis had revealed the mines in Banora were largely untouched. It made sense, really, the bombing only went so deep, and no one was going to search a place razed to the ground. It was so painfully obvious that Zack felt stupid. But if Sephiroth or the Turks hadn't realized it either, then maybe Zack could hide behind that.

For now, Vincent, Aerith and Reno were staying with the helicopter. Genesis had claimed to have given his clones an order to kill themselves about ten minutes before they landed, and the number of corpses with dissolving parts in the tunnels marked that as true. Hollander had apparently been going insane over that, and so didn't notice them approaching until Gladiolus had lunged.

“I don't see any of the copy technology, either...” Sephiroth hummed, examining the shoddy little lab.

“Angeal never used the cloning machines,” Genesis revealed blithely, “Apparently all we ever needed to do was introduce our genetics into the biological system we wished to convert. Blood works the best, I've found. Blood and hair.”

“Ick.” Zack declared, nudging Gladiolus off Hollander and hauling the man upright. “So can I get an answer over here or am I usurping authority again? I mean, I'm not in favor of execution, personally, I think enough people have died as it is, but I'm not currently in charge.”

“What would you do, then?” Sephiroth hummed, wandering over.

Zack blinked, confused.

“You're my second-in-command. You have some say in these things, Zack.” the general said with a bit of a smirk. Genesis groaned, rolling his eyes.

Hollander twisted to look at Zack with wide, pleading eyes, babbling nonsense.

“Hey, shut up a minute.” he ordered, giving the portly man a shake. Huffing, he spent a moment thinking. As Sephiroth tilted his head, Zack replied, “We have no real way of knowing if he's been keeping secrets from Genesis. Or if he has some secondary ulterior motive. I think we should hand him over to Reno while we clear the tunnels out. I sure as hell don't want wandering monsters munching on dead clones and getting all Jenova-y. Can you imagine self-cloning feral guard-hounds with wings?”

“You just like burning things.” Genesis sneered.

“I think you're the last person who should accuse anyone of that.” Sephiroth hummed. Nodding, the general said, “It isn't a bad idea. Shall we?”

Zack couldn't help but beam.

Sephiroth and Genesis took Hollander, and Zack and Gladiolus began to work on collecting the dissolving corpses. Most of them were dissolving completely, but some of the less human ones were leaving behind bits and pieces. It was an easier job than Nibelheim, that was for sure, if only for the mako-tang being drastically decreased in comparison. It smelled so much less.

Either way, it didn't take long for a small fire to be set outside the mine, burning away the more monster-y clone bits. Zack was thankful that there were fewer human parts to burn this time. He always felt horrible disposing of humanoid things. Worst when they were former humans or former independent people.

“It's a very grisly job,” Aerith observed as he and Gladiolus returned to the little campsite, “Do you really enjoy it?”

And now all eyes were on him.

Plopping down on the ground, Zack cupped his chin in his hands thoughtfully. “... It isn't all bad,” he admitted, “I hate missions where I have to hurt or kill people. It's not very honorable, or all that heroic. But if it's something like a simple monster-sweep, clearing out places so they can be safe for people, that can be fun! I feel less upset about those because typically the monsters I'm killing were attacking or even eating people. Like yeah, everything's gotta eat, but it's natural to defend yourself against things that wanna eat you.”

“What about Wutai?” Reno hummed nonchalantly. Zack was able to recognize the question as an assessment of his loyalty and mental state, and stuck his tongue out. Reno cheerfully flipped him off, making Genesis scoff.

“I didn't like that I had to kill people who were defending their homes,” Zack answered, “But getting to see and experience how they fought, that was cool. It's so different from how Shinra works. I've never seen anyone from Shinra fight like the people in Wutai, except maybe a few Turks here and there.”

“It used to be like that all over,” Vincent piped up, “Things only became standardized everywhere when Shinra took over.”

Zack was still getting used to Vincent. Despite wearing a cloak redder than Reno's hair and being nearly the same size as Sephiroth, it was easy to forget the man was there. He just didn't talk, practically at all, and was always just kinda standing off to the side. And whenever he did speak up, it was with those kinds of miniature bombshells that got everyone thinking. One heck of a Turk, really.

Zack hummed, petting Gladiolus briefly as the clone trotted past. “Anyway, what happened with Hollander?”

“He's cuffed in there,” Reno said with a lazy jerk of his head towards the helicopter, “I sure as hell ain't sharin' a tent with him, yo.”

Zack and Genesis both gave understanding nods.

“So how long are we staying out here?” Aerith asked, looking around as the sun went down. “Will we know when it's safe to go back?”

“Might be a day or two,” Reno shrugged, “If shit's too hasty, things'll be suspicious. It can't look planned, y'know?”

“That stated, I would be concerned if it took more than that.” Sephiroth hummed.

Aerith was looking grim and upset.

Zack clapped his hands as he got to his feet, drawing all eyes onto him. “You know what we didn't get to do today? We didn't get to work on your materia-handling!” he declared.

“Oh...” Aerith blinked.

“You're training your girlfriend to use materia?” Genesis asked flatly.

“And self-defense! You never know when a wild Hojo will try to attack, and should always be prepared!” Zack nodded grandly.

He was immensely satisfied by Sephiroth and Vincent's aborted jerks, accompanied by Genesis's snort and Reno's hoots of laughter. Aerith smiled, shaking her head as she stood up to follow him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wholesome Doodling With the Crisis Core Cast
> 
> unofficial title courtesy of princessdragonsun

Reno had dragged Hollander and Vincent away behind the helicopter just about first thing in the morning. Apparently there was some new development back in Midgar.

“It hasn't even been twenty-four hours, huh... Why can't things ever go smooth?” Zack grumbled, drawing stick-figures in the dirt.

“You're very whiny.” Genesis commented as Aerith added some flowers to the dirt doodles.

“I put up with you lot all the time, I earned my whining privileges.” Zack replied. “If you two are just gonna sit there and stare, either start drawing or go off somewhere and amuse yourselves.”

Aerith giggled, Gladiolus sniffing at the dirt where they were drawing. Genesis and Sephiroth exchanged befuddled looks.

“They need a house. What kind of house should we give them?” Zack asked, frowning thoughtfully at the doodles.

“Is it all one family?” Aerith replied.

“... Big family if it is... Seph, how many families does this look like?”

The general blinked. “... I don't understand.”

Rolling his eyes, Zack gestured to the dirt-mural of stick-figures and flowers. “I want your opinion on how many families you think this is, so we know how many houses to make for them!”

“Why don't you just make Midgar, then?” Genesis asked acidly, rolling his eyes and looking away.

“Oh! Midgar full of flowers!” Aerith gasped dramatically.

Zack gasped back, and immediately gave one of the little stick figures a wallet full of money and a big cart of flowers. As the other two SOLDIERs stared in confusion, Aerith added a stick-dog with wings, and a stick-figure with a sword.

“... Do we get any context? At all?” Genesis snarked.

As Zack began trying to recreate the church behind the flower-cart, Aerith sat up to explain, “It was Zack's idea that I should make a business out of my flowers, and that I should have a cart to sell them from. He called it Operation Midgar Full Of Flowers, Wallet Full Of Money,” with a twinkle in her eye.

“And we're getting there! The Turks are currently our biggest customers, but we're getting there!” Zack grinned.

“... You're forgetting the Plate.” Sephiroth pointed out as Genesis swiveled to stare towards the helicopter.

“I can't, I'm doing the market!” Zack pouted.

After a moment, the general came closer.

“Are you all children?” Genesis sighed, sounding exasperated.

“I know you are but what am I?” Zack replied as Sephiroth began to delicately lay out the line work of everything above-Plate. It looked a little too blueprint-y to properly mesh with the rest of the mural, but at this point Zack would take what he could get.

The redhead, thankfully, decided to shut up and pet Gladiolus.

Before too long, Sephiroth had retreated, leaving behind a scarily accurate representation of the top half of Midgar. Aerith had begun making little chocobos— he thought, anyway— off to the side, so Zack scootched over to the other side and made his own little add-ons. He was vaguely aware of Vincent rounding the helicopter and approaching as Hollander's voice began to become more audible. Who did the guy think was going to help him out here?

“... Is that supposed to be a zolom?” Vincent asked, standing over Zack and Aerith.

“Yep!” Zack replied cheerfully, adding a pair of stick-figures nearby.

“... I see.” the old Turk murmured, stepping carefully around them.

“How is it?” Sephiroth asked bluntly.

“... The situation is under control.”

Leaning over, Zack stage-whispered to Aerith, “That's Turk-speak for shit hit the fan and everyone's winging everything,” from behind his hand.

“How can you tell?” she replied in the same manner.

“He paused the same length of time Tseng does before saying it, and he said it the exact same way.”

Before they could keep going, Sephiroth asked, “How bad is it?”

“I don't have all the details. Do any of you know anything about Deepground?” Vincent asked, sitting down and crossing his legs.

“Never heard of it.” Genesis said dismissively.

“Ditto.” Zack added, Aerith shaking her head.

“Based on the context, I would assume it to be some side-project of Hojo's.” Sephiroth hummed.

“That's certainly the way it sounds. Hollander doesn't seem to know anything.” Vincent replied, scarlet eyes watching Zack's fingers drag through the dirt.

“So Reno's vent-interrogating, then. I guess he wanted in on the Midgar action.” Zack shrugged as a shrill shriek rent the air.

“That's called bullying. Is that Sephiroth and Genesis?” Aerith asked, pointing to the stick-figures fighting the zolom.

“Yep!” he grinned cheekily.

“... Oh.” Sephiroth said, sounding a little blank as Genesis stood up and strode over to see.

“This is atrocious, really. Who taught either of you to draw?” the disgraced SOLDIER declared, hands on his hips.

“So you could do better, then?” Aerith asked, so innocently that Zack very nearly had to physically restrain himself from laughing as Genesis dropped into a crouch between them.


	25. Chapter 25

The mural had grown.

Midgar's roofs were covered in flowers, and all the corners had bushels of them. There was at least one instance of a ice cream vendor with kids surrounding them, and at least one box full of kittens. Everything Sephiroth had done was geometric and blueprint-like. Genesis's touch was obvious in his almost calligraphic chocobo ranch and flower-meadow just outside of Midgar, accompanied by what looked like apple-trees. Reno had added a helicopter over the zolom fight, a bit too big to fit perfectly into the scale of the picture. No one was taking credit for the little scene on Shinra HQ's roof— a small collection of people with guns and other weapons apparently shooting a ponytailed figure with a clipboard over the edge— but Zack was putting his gil on Vincent. The style was too different from everyone else, and they weren't exactly letting Hollander help. Gladiolus's paw prints around the edges had been modified into cars, chocobo-drawn carts, and livestock.

Zack couldn't help but smile as he took a picture. It wasn't a super high-quality image, but he wanted a picture, if only to send to Kunsel and Cloud. If he could, he'd probably get a print of the photo so he could hang it up at his place.

Times were rough right now. But even in turbulent times, there were good things. He couldn't forget that.

Behind him, Aerith made a noise of discomfort.

“You okay?” Zack asked, turning to look at her. She was holding her head, staring dazedly at the ground. Frowning, Zack pocketed his phone and stepped closer. Her eyes flicked up to him as he reached out. Smiling gently, he told her, “It's okay. I got you.”

After a moment, Aerith pressed in close. She was shaking.

“... It's... so loud...” she breathed.

Zack wrapped his arms around her. “Can you talk back?” he asked quietly.

“I-I... don't know...”

“... Maybe we should try,” Zack suggested softly, “Do you want to find someplace quiet where we can try?”

She peered up at him, green eyes bright in the dimming light. “We?” she echoed.

He smiled, giving her a careful squeeze. “You think I'm just gonna let the planet give you crap? No way, if all the voices in the world are yelling at you, then I'm gonna yell right back an' give 'em the what-for!”

Aerith wrapped her arms around him and squeezed back, smiling wanly. “If you say so, silly puppy.”

“So you wanna find someplace quiet to try?” Zack asked, still smiling and hugging her. “Or we can stay here and listen to Genesis rant about poetry.”

She snorted, pulling away. “If you're going to stand by me so steadfastly, I may as well give it a shot. But if you flake out, that's grounds for breaking up, mister, and I get to keep Gladiolus!”

He gave a gasp of mock-horror. “Aerith, no! At least let me have him on weekends!”

“Fridays!” she declared, the mock-seriousness ruined by her giggle.

Grinning, Zack leaned in to plant a kiss on her cheek. After getting a kiss back, he trotted over to Vincent and Sephiroth. It looked and sounded like Reno was deliberately antagonizing Genesis about Loveless, and Zack wasn't interrupting that if it would save the world. The two looked up as he came close.

“Aerith's having trouble with the voices. We're going to try finding someplace quiet and see if we can't get them to shut up.” he explained simply.

“... If you want to have some time alone you can just say so.” Vincent replied. Sephiroth blinked, then made a noise of understanding.

“Good to know, but seriously. We're gonna go do Cetra stuff. We'll take Gladiolus with us in case any monsters try to ambush us, but if Reno or Genesis start freaking out, or we get the call to go back, try not to panic.” Zack informed them. He was glad that everyone could see how serious he was about Aerith, and that they were willing to give him time to just be himself with her, but that was a celebration for another time.

The clone came with a simple call of his name, and Zack let Aerith lead the way. Oddly enough, she began heading towards the mines. He chose not to say anything, instead just following her.

“It feels...” Aerith murmured uncertainly as they descended, trailing off.

“Good feels or bad feels?” Zack prompted gently, Gladiolus's wings shifting.

“... big?” she replied awkwardly. Fiddling nervously with her materia-bracer, she explained, “It feels like there's a lot more down here than we can see. Like we could explore for hours and not have necessarily found everything. And... I don't want to go too far that way.”

Zack made a mental note to look into the direction Aerith had pointed out later. For the time being, he just nodded, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze to let her know he had her. She smiled, and they kept moving.

The tunnels were a real labyrinth. Zack started to become concerned about getting lost, but Aerith seemed to have a destination in mind. And he supposed, if nothing else, they could have Gladiolus sniff out their trail. But beyond that, he was starting to think these weren't even mines. They passed a handful of labs a while ago, and just recently what had looked like prison cells. The deeper they went, the bigger and more spacious the tunnels seemed to get. And the more... natural. They didn't look dug out any more, the support-beams starting to become fewer and fewer.

What had Shinra been doing, Zack found himself asking without any prompting. No one had said anything, but this had their stamp all over it. If nothing else, it had the stamps of an abandoned science project, almost like Niflheim. And it would make sense, for Genesis and Angeal to grow up in Banora if Banora had been some side-project. But these caves... this whole system seemed both natural and unnatural somehow, and Zack was maybe starting to get a little spooked.

Maybe.

Blinking, he realized Aerith had stopped, and that there was a mako-tang in the air. Not like at a reactor, though. More like the natural springs at Mount Nibel. They stood in a large, surprisingly spacious cavern, dimly lit by a green glow. Said glow was coming from small pools. No, closer examination revealed that the puddles and pools spreading across the floor were just water. The glow was coming from under the water, diffused by the ripples. Mako springs.

“... okay.” Aerith said, sounding both convicted and uncertain.

Zack pulled her into a hug, making her squeak as he declared, “Let's do this.”


	26. Chapter 26

There was a difference between not being good at something and just plain not trying. For example, no matter how often Angeal had tried, Zack wasn't very good at meditating. He got fidgety after a few minutes, and his thoughts wandered too much for his mind to be clear and blank. That, however, didn't mean he didn't regularly sit down and try to follow his mentor's instructions, even now.

Sitting down next to Aerith, holding her hand as she bowed her head, Zack felt a lot like he was going in to attempt meditation. And that was as good a place to start as any, he figured.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. Holding his breath for a few beats, he began doing his best to clear his mind. Exhaling slowly and gently, he focused on the sensation of Aerith's hand in his. Another deep breath in, pushing away thoughts about Shinra, about the weirdness of the caves, and about his concerns for Midgar. Hold the breath—

Aerith's breath hitched, and her fingers twitched in his grip.

Zack gave her hand a squeeze. He knew he was no Ancient, but maybe meditation wasn't the way to go about it.

So instead he began trying to build a mental image in his head. One of the Lifestream, which took shape as a great rushing river of luminescent green. But rather than the roar of water moving at high speeds, it would roar like a crowd of people all talking at the same time, voices raised in order to be heard over each other. Aerith's hand twitched again, and Zack pictured her in front of the river, hands over her ears. Instinctively, he put himself in front of her in the mental image.

In his head, he roared back at the river, small and challenging, but when had he ever been the biggest or loudest the planet had to offer.

Aerith's hand relaxed under his grip, and she gave a soft hum. Zack swept a thumb over her knuckles. In his head, he pictured himself giving the Lifestream his best disapproving Angeal impression. The one where all his weight was shifted onto one leg as he crossed his arms and frowned.

Aerith giggled, and Zack was startled to admit he didn't know if it was real or in his head.

It went on like that. Whenever Zack sensed distress or unease from Aerith, he pictured himself yelling at his mental Lifestream, occasionally brandishing a fist or stomping a foot. Usually when that happened, Aerith would relax afterwards. Zack chose to interpret that as meaning he was doing a good job. If it was anything else, well, the news could be broken later.

After a while, Aerith nudged him, taking her hand back at the same time. Zack blinked, feeling a lot like he was being woken up from a nap.

“Did it work?” he asked as he scrabbled to his feet. He might've been a touch bleary, as if he'd been drifting off. Maybe he had been. Oops.

“Mm... Not perfectly.” she replied, sounding much more serene this time. “I was able to speak with her, a little. I didn't understand all of it, but...”

“Yeah?” Zack coaxed, worried that Aerith had been told something grim.

A cheeky grin split her face. “She think's you're very cute!”

He blinked rapidly for a moment, then gave a playful growl, scooping her up and making her shriek. “We should get back,” he declared, looking up at her, “And you can tell all of us at once instead of needing to say it all over and over again.”

Aerith nodded, and Zack carried her towards the cave-mouth. Gladiolus was waiting for them there, head on his paws. The clone perked up upon seeing them, getting to his feet and turning to lead the way.

“It was a lot less scary once they all stopped yelling,” Aerith hummed, shifting slightly in Zack's grip so she was essentially sitting on his shoulder, “I don't even think they had realized they were all doing it.”

“So they've stopped?” Zack asked, keeping his eyes on Gladiolus. The last thing he wanted was to get lost down here.

“Not completely. But I don't have a headache any more.”

“Well, that's g— you had a headache?!”

“A little one.”

“I should have yelled more.” he grouched. Gladiolus turned around solely for the purpose of headbutting his hip, so Zack sighed and gave the clone a scratch. “I should've, though.”

Aerith giggled, patting his head. “I think...”

He looked up at her, pausing. Gladiolus waited at his side.

Aerith smiled gently. “It won't be perfect. But I think everything will be okay.”

After a moment, Zack carefully lowered her to the ground. Taking her hands in his, he gently bumped their foreheads together, waiting for her permission. She hummed serenely, tilting her head just enough to brush their lips together.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack Fair Needs A Hug And For Yuffie To Stop Spamming Him
> 
> unofficial title courtesy of princessdragonsun

“You made contact with the planet, then?” Reno asked, typing on his phone even as he stared intently at Aerith.

“For a little bit, yes.” she nodded.

“This is an achievement...?” Sephiroth asked, head tilting to the side.

“We've been monitoring her for years, yo, waiting for her to inherit the Cetra wisdom. This is a pretty big deal, actually.”

At Reno's words, Aerith seemed to withdraw a bit, hands balling into fists on her lap. Zack crossed his arms over his chest and declared, “That isn't important right now! Worry about it later!”

For a moment, all eyes bounced between him and Reno. The Turk stared impassively at him, and Zack stared right back. At length, the redhead shrugged, shoving his phone into a random pocket.

“What did you learn?” Vincent asked, prodding the campfire. Zack seriously envied how unflappable the guy was. He and Reno had been two steps from throwing down and Vincent was just making sure dinner didn't burn. He wondered if it was a Turk thing or a put-up-with-Hojo-for-way-too-fucking-long thing. Maybe a mix of both, considering Seph.

“It was hard to make everything out perfectly. A lot of it was really rather cryptic. She spoke of the Calamity from the skies, and of washing away the stigma, but I don't understand what that all means.” Aerith sighed, shaking her head.

“We can most likely assume that this Calamity is Jenova.” Genesis drawled, looking rather bored with the proceedings. Zack wondered if the guy had wanted him and Reno to fight.

“That is kinda the big thing right now, and Aerith's head did hurt when the name was first brought up in Midgar...” Zack hummed, crossing his legs so he could bounce a knee.

“But what about washing away the stigma? What stigma?” Reno prompted, also bouncing a knee.

“We don't have enough information,” Sephiroth cut in, “Speculating is useless at this point. If further contact can be made, more information can be gathered, and we can get a better picture of what exactly is going on. Obsessing over it will get us nowhere.”

“Seph,” Zack said flatly, knee going still, “I want you to think very carefully about why you are the last person with any rights to be saying that.”

Genesis snorted, but the general looked suitably chastised.

“You are, however, right, so. Change of subject. Is the wing actually growing back or have I permanently grounded you?” Zack continued, shifting his attention to the disgraced SOLDIER.

“You actually lopped it off? Really?” Reno gasped, eyes wide.

“He did, actually. It is regrowing, but I cannot say at what rate. My degradation is only advancing exponentially, after all, and while mutations come in faster, healing is slower.” Genesis replied, dragging a hand dramatically through his hair.

Before anyone could add anything else to the conversation, Zack's phone chirped with an email. All eyes were on him as he took the device out. Upon seeing the sender, he couldn't help but groan.

“Who is it?” Aerith asked.

“It's— ugh, it's a long story... what does she even want this time...” he grumbled, opening the message up. After reading over it once, he put his phone down, got up and circled around the group, then fell into a crouch in front of his phone, one hand covering his mouth and the other drumming against his knee.

“Zack?” Sephiroth questioned.

“I'm waiting.” he said flatly, Aerith craning her neck to see what the email said.

After a minute longer, his phone buzzed again, a second email popping up.

“Yep. That's what I thought.” Zack huffed.

“Story time, story time!” Reno cheered, heel thumping on the ground.

“Screw you, Reno, I know you already know about Little Miss Treasure Hunt!” Zack half-spat.

“... Who?” Genesis asked blankly.

Groaning, Zack fell back onto the ground with a thump. As Gladiolus trotted over to sniff at his face, he explained, “During that last battle in Wutai, I met this kid who declared she was Wutai's strongest and coolest ninja ever, and I pretended that she beat me up so that she would leave the field, right? Somehow— gah! I don't know how, but she got ahold of my contact info! And she would send me messages trying to boss me around and force me into helping her find buried treasure, and for some reason Shinra decided that yeah, sure! Those were valid missions! So they'd tell me to try and get these treasures first, but they were never anything useful! Or valuable! They were all Shinra supply stashes that got forgotten about! Meaning Shinra was just telling me to go play with a little girl and clean up their trash from years and years ago! And she would always get mad at me when there wasn't any real treasure! Like it's my fault some loon decided to stash his porn-mags in the middle of nowhere! And I had thought— had hoped— that since I hadn't heard from her for a year by this point, that she had given up!”

He was aware that he was ranting, practically yelling at this point. Gladiolus was standing on his chest, keeping him from flailing around too much. Which Zack was honestly rather grateful for, because he was pretty sure he'd be beating on the ground like a tantrum-throwing kid otherwise. Instead, he settled for making a throttling gesture at the sunset-dyed sky above.

“... Are they not aware that you're currently on a mission?” Sephiroth asked.

Gently pushing Gladiolus off, Zack sat up. “That has literally never stopped them before. I've been in the middle of Genesis-hunting and gotten orders to go see what treasure the kid had supposedly found. Gave me away in the middle of the gun-factory.”

“Oh, that time.” Genesis hummed nonchalantly.

“You did not need a fucking tank.” Zack growled, glaring as he grabbed his phone.

“I don't know. It may have helped.”

“No it wouldn't have,” Zack declared, “Because that was the shitty old model, and I can dismantle the new not-shitty ones pretty damn fast by now.”

“So all of the bot-bashing pays off, then.” Aerith said in a soothing tone, patting his shoulder.

“Bot-bashing?” Vincent and Sephiroth asked at almost the exact same time.

“Whenever experimental machines go rogue, Zack's the guy getting dumped with clean-up duty.” Reno provided helpfully.

“You wouldn't know, because you were always off passing your missions to me or hunting terrorists.” Zack said, a tad venomously. He wasn't mad at Sephiroth, not right now, but he was frustrated and needed something to take it out on. Unfortunately the general was presenting an easy target there.

To his surprise, Sephiroth awkwardly asked, “Do you want a hug?”

“Thanks, but no,” Zack huffed, standing up, “I'm going to go beat up a dead tree or two, then go find my phony treasure. Because wouldn't you know it, this time she's heard a rumor about monsters guarding valuable riches under a farming town that Shinra razed!”

“... Ah.” Genesis offered blandly as everyone looked pointedly at him.

“Try not to be long.” Vincent suggested, prodding the fire again.

“No promises. If the hug offer is still valid when I get back I might say yes.”


	28. Chapter 28

He waited a beat... two...

Whirling around, he lunged. The girl shrieked in fright and surprise as he caught her by the waist, scooping her into the air.

“If you don't use new tricks now and then, the enemy learns and adapts.” Zack scolded the flailing kid.

“Shinra pig! Lemme go!” she howled, kicking back. Zack grunted as her foot hit his inner thigh. “Let go! You aren't supposed to catch me!”

“Too bad.” he grumbled, rearranging how he was holding her so her arms were pinned to her sides and she was pinned to his side. His lower leg was going to be black and blue with all the kicking, but at least she couldn't reach anything to bite. Using his free hand, Zack shook open her rucksack and peered inside. “None of this is even treasure, punk. Bust again.”

“What?! No way! Liar!” the girl screamed, kicking that much more.

He gave the bag a shake. “I see some expired-looking ration bars, a booze-flask, and a handful of Golden Saucer tokens or whatever those are. And a wing-nut.”

“N-no fair! I want my treasure!”

Resolutely ignoring the screaming and thrashing, Zack turned and began the process of leaving the mines to return to camp. Halfway there, she began to tucker out, breathless from all the screaming. And on the note of the screaming, she had switched to Wutaian. Zack was wondering if the sock threat would work here or if that'd just be cruel to the kid.

Naturally, due to the nature of his cargo, everyone heard Zack returning. They all watched as he came over, Gladiolus coming to meet him halfway. He paused long enough to scratch between the neck-plates and stroke over the ruffled wing before completing his return. Waiting for the girl to draw her breath again, he asked, “Is the sock-threat too much for a kid? I don't think she's much younger than Cloud but that still feels weird.”

“There's tape in the chopper.” Reno offered.

Directly after, the girl caught her breath and belted out, “You'll never silence me! Shinra filth! Just you wait, I'll kill all of you in your sleep!”

“Are you going to make a habit out of this, Zack?” Sephiroth asked over the Wutaian that followed.

“Isn't that Wutai's missing princess?” Genesis threw in.

“I don't know who she is, nor do I care. I want my hug and something to eat.”

Vincent muttered something, and it took a few seconds to register as Wutaian. The girl stopped flailing in Zack's grip, staring at the old Turk before firing off what sounded like a question in return. Vincent shrugged, offering Zack his share of supper as Reno slunk off towards the helicopter.

“Someone else take her.” Zack ordered.

After a moment, Sephiroth stood. That renewed the shrieking and flailing. With a note of desperation, this time.

“She says the demon will kill her.” Vincent offered, flatly but helpfully.

“Oh, that. Hey, punk,” Zack said crossly, using his free hand to poke her and get her attention, “If I had any faith that you'd behave, I'd just let you go. But I'm sick of being called out to the middle of nowhere and bullied over treasures that don't exist to begin with. So my options are narrowed down to apprehending you. But now you've gone and kicked me black and blue, bruised my kidney with that elbow, and made my ears ring with all your yelling. I don't want to hold you any more. Your options are Seph or Genesis and personally I'd take Sephiroth. He's less inclined to light you on fire if you're obnoxious.”

The girl looked nervously between him and the general. Her gaze then flicked to Vincent, and she asked, “What about him? He's not doing anything!”

“Not a good idea.” the old Turk answered, and Zack couldn't say for certain if the gold shimmer was the fire or not.

“So there.” Zack declared with a note of finality.

The girl's lip began to wobble, prompting Aerith to say, “Oh dear...”

“Nope. I'm still salty about the last time you pulled that trick.” Zack informed his miniature prisoner, letting Sephiroth draw closer. “It shouldn't be as much of an issue since you're all decked out in leather, but she'll try to bite. Watch your hair, I'm not putting it past her to try pulling it.”

The general swept all his hair carefully over one shoulder, then took the squirming child from Zack.

“You're not sitting over here with that.” Genesis warned, causing Sephiroth to look lost.

“Sit with Aerith, I'll sit with him.” Zack ordered, taking his food from Vincent and circling around to plop down next to the disgraced SOLDIER.

As Reno returned from the helicopter, a coil of rope in one hand and a roll of tape spinning in the other, the girl grumpily asked Aerith, “Did these pigs kidnap you too?”

Aerith, for her part, cheerfully replied, “Oh no, I kidnapped them. They work for me now.”


	29. Chapter 29

Between Aerith and Vincent, one Yuffie Kisaragi— holy shit it really was Wutai's missing princess, Zack had never known— was largely subdued. She was still a brat, but the threat of rope and tape, as well as sitting in Sephiroth's lap, kept her tolerable. Zack had managed to snap a discreet picture of Sephiroth holding the little girl on his lap, petting Gladiolus while she talked to Aerith. He was sure the Silver Elite would pay a good deal for it. It had to be playing to how many fantasies there? The Silver General, Sephiroth himself, holding a child on his lap while sitting placidly at a campfire, petting an exotic pet dog?

Not that he was sharing outside of himself, Kunsel, and Cloud. The Silver Elite were a bit more refined than the Keepers Of Honor and both of Genesis's clubs, but all of them were hyped-up fanatics. Giving a picture like this to people like that? Not a good idea.

“... We should be good to start heading back to Midgar by tomorrow afternoon.” Reno said suddenly, looking at his phone. Everyone grew quiet, even Yuffie. “However, just to be safe, we may want to stay an extra day. Put some bull about the mines being infested in the reports.”

“What are you even doing out here?” Yuffie demanded sourly.

“Plotting a glorious and bloody coup.” Zack deadpanned, making her stare with wide eyes.

Seph, on the other hand, exclaimed “Zack!” in a scandalized tone that had him cracking up.

“Are we not?” Vincent asked placidly, Aerith joining Zack's giggling.

“We are?” Sephiroth asked, turning to Genesis and Reno. The two redheads shrugged idly, leaving the general to look perplexed.

“You're not out of the loop, buddy,” Zack chuckled, “But Shinra would see this as all kinds of treasonous, wouldn't they? We're in on the Turks sabotaging and assassinating one of their board members—”

“More than, actually.” Reno threw out in a sage voice.

“— multiple board members, and we're working on freeing up the guy they've wanted us to dispose of since the war ended. Not to mention I don't think Aerith was supposed to leave Midgar.”

Sephiroth relaxed, making Zack wonder if the general seriously thought everyone was plotting a coup without him. Yuffie, on the other hand, huffed, “That's not nearly as fun...”

“Well, if I ever do end up plotting a coup, I'll make sure to include both of you. Top of the list.” Zack drawled, flopping over backwards.

“Not me?” Genesis asked, sounding genuinely put-upon.

“You're the source of more than half my paperwork over the past few years. Bottom of the list.” he retorted.

“Speaking of paperwork,” Reno piped up, “What is our story for keeping Genesis alive?”

Everyone fell silent. Zack pulled himself up into a sitting position once more, exchanging looks with everyone as he thought.

It was Vincent, in the end, who said, “Hollander was forcing him.”

“So a tragic hero route? The mad scientist used the commander to fulfill his own agenda, while making empty promises about curing the illness?” Zack elaborated, earning a subtle nod.

“Not too far from the truth, honestly.” Genesis added.

“So we captured Hollander and freed the real Genesis, but that only took us a day.” Reno pointed out.

“... Maybe our answer is right in front of us.” Zack hummed thoughtfully.

“What're you looking at!” Yuffie shrieked, making Sephiroth grimace and adjust his hold as she squirmed.

“Oh, hey. Good point, yo. While cleaning out Hollander's base, Zack was assigned a secondary mission.” Reno nodded.

“Don't be mean.” Aerith warned as Gladiolus got up and circled around to lie next to Genesis. “She's just a kid.”

“Am not! I'm the strongest warrior, Wutai's White Rose!” Yuffie objected.

“And yet you were caught and apprehended by Shinra's second-strongest, Zack the Puppy.” Sephiroth commented.

“Excuse me?!” Genesis bristled.

“Zack defeated Angeal, bested you on multiple occasions, and merely has to prove he can overtake me before claiming the title of Shinra's finest. He currently holds the position of second-strongest as a result.” the general explained simply.

“... Puppy, get up.” Genesis ordered, standing up and marching away.

“No,” he answered darkly, “I filled my quota for working today.”

“Get up and fight me.”

“Fight yourself!” Zack snapped, sticking his tongue out. “Oh! Hey, you! Yuffie! How'd you even get my contact info? Last I checked, that stuff's not exactly public!”

“Not telling!” the girl shot back, sticking out her own tongue.

Vincent said something in Wutaian, which earned him a stuck-out tongue too. But whatever it was, it worked, because the kid grumbled, “Some weird blonde guy gave my dad these lists. One was of all these coordinates, and the other was a bunch of emails. He said we could use them to get back at Shinra, but Dad wanted nothing to do with it. I just picked the first one.”

“Weird blonde guy?” Aerith echoed, nose scrunched up.

“I didn't really see him, okay?! I was... I was supposed to be in bed, but I wanted to practice my sneaking!” Yuffie defended, blushing.

“Nice.” Reno nodded.

“... Do you still have the lists?” Sephiroth asked as Genesis stomped back to the circle.

“I'm not giving 'em to you! Shinra scum!”

Sephiroth grunted as a well-aimed heel hit his knee, and Zack reached out for the forgotten rucksack.

“H-hey! That's mine! You jerk!” Yuffie complained, squirming that much more.

Ignoring her yelling, Zack opened up the bag and began carefully going through it. After a minute, he pulled out a pair of rumpled paper-packs. Putting the bag down, he did his best to smooth the papers out and read over them.

“... This one's just a bunch of coordinates.” he murmured, holding it out for anyone who wanted it to take. Genesis plucked it from his hand and sat next to Sephiroth. “... And this one... this one's a list of SOLDIER emails. Sorted by Class, dated just after the Wutai War ended. A few of these guys got promoted or killed in action recently. I'm top of the list.”

“And these aren't just coordinates. You said that the treasure always turned out to be supply stashes, correct?” Sephiroth asked over Yuffie's cursing at them.

“I'm not gonna like this, am I?” Zack sighed as Reno came to stand over his shoulder and peer at the email list.

“These are specifically SOLDIER emergency supplies. Ones that were placed in the early days of the program, in the event that a member was stranded without food or medical supplies during a mission.” Sephiroth told him.

“And Lazard deserted not long after Angeal died. Anything you wanna add, Genesis?”

“I hadn't known he was encouraging Wutai to revolt as well as funding me.”

“News to us.” Reno sighed.

It wasn't fair, Zack thought bitterly. Everyone he trusted and cared about didn't seem to feel the same way. They all ran off or got themselves killed. Or made him kill them. Director Lazard had been a good guy, had cared about the SOLDIERs and listened to them when they had complaints or requests. Even if he had beef with Shinra, he didn't have to... to...

“... Zack never got his hug.” Aerith said suddenly, standing up.

He let Reno snatch the papers away and opened his arms wide, making grabby-hands. As Aerith wrapped her arms around him and squeezed with all her might, Sephiroth gloomily put out, “I think I need one too.”

They made Genesis take Yuffie for a few minutes so Zack and Aerith could hug the general, who clearly hadn't been expecting to actually get a hug.


	30. Chapter 30

“I feel like this was rigged.” Zack frowned at the straw he pulled.

“Someone hasta hold her.” Reno shrugged. “We ain't got room for everyone to have a seat with Hollander and your dog.”

Which was absolute bull and the redhead knew it.

“Do you want me to do it?” Sephiroth asked.

“No, cuz then I hafta sit next to Genesis, and I don't want him drooling on my shoulder.” Zack huffed, throwing the straw away and reclaiming the sulky princess from Vincent. The old Turk had avoided holding Yuffie because the experiments Hojo had done on him sometimes triggered what the guy called ‘ugly changes,’ and while Vincent refused to elaborate no one was keen to find out what he meant the messy way. Zack could still remember the cold gold of Vincent's eyes back in Midgar.

“I do not drool!” Genesis bristled, throwing away his own straw. After a moment, the redhead turned to Sephiroth with a dubious, “Right?”

The general didn't answer, simply saying, “You wouldn't have to...”

“Why aren't you answering me?” Genesis demanded.

“I can sit on my own, I'm not a baby!” Yuffie yelled, kicking more.

“Well no one trusts you not to cause mayhem without a babysitter.” Zack huffed, turning towards the helicopter. “Are we going or not?”

“I can fill you all in on the new developments as we go.” Reno hummed, already in the pilot's seat.

Oh goodie.

Aerith helped Yuffie with her headset as Zack glanced back at Hollander. It looked like Reno had taped up the man's mouth, thankfully. He didn't think he would make it through the flight if he had to listen to that moron babbling on top of any whining Yuffie decided to do.

But, just as thankfully, it seemed like the kid had never been in a helicopter before, and was too gobsmacked to do much more than stare out the window.

“Okay, so!” Reno announced five minutes into the flight. “There was, apparently, a secret facility underneath the Midgar building, with it's own mako reactor and everything! It was part of something called Deepground, and it was like an alternate SOLDIER program, only more twisted! We've got three survivors right now, one of them's been returned to her family, but the other two... well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there! But it looks like not a lot of people were in on the whole thing— Hojo, Heidegger, and the president were caught up in the place and are no more! Palmer kinda got caught in the crossfire, and we're left with Veld, Scarlet, Director Tuesti, and Rufus!”

“Go back to those two survivors, how about that?” Genesis snarked.

That was, however, important information. Rufus was taking over if the president was dead. Both regular military and SOLDIER were without directors. Science was without a director. And... what had Palmer been in charge of? The space program? Hadn't that gone bust years ago? Why was Palmer even around still in that case? Whatever. Down four directors and a president, that was a bigger hit than expected... everyone who hated Shinra would be rushing in for a bite when they caught wind.

Reno broke into Zack's thoughts by saying, “I don't know much myself— they're both apparently crazy strong, and we can't tell if they're waiting to attack us because they were loyal to Hojo, or if they don't trust anyone because Hojo had corporate backing. I mean, I sure as hell wouldn't, yo, but so far they've gone with us— we may wanna bounce Zack offa them for a few hours though!”

“Why me?” he demanded, a tad on the defensive side.

“Because you could make friends with a zolom, man!” Reno cackled.

“I'm choosing to take that as a compliment! I'll remind you of that when I ride through town on my battle-zolom!”

That made almost everyone laugh. Vincent just looked concerned. Zack didn't know if he should be flattered that the man thought him that charismatic, or worried that Vincent seemed to genuinely think that Zack would ride through Midgar on the back of a giant death snake. Or, of course, maybe Vincent wasn't even thinking of that, and was worrying about Shinra's power-structure and enemies.

The ride back was, otherwise, relatively peaceful. It had been established that Genesis's name was to be cleared, as well as Angeal's. Hollander was going to be handed over to the Turks. Yuffie was really the only loose end at the moment, but Reno said it was extremely likely that she'd be shuttled off back to Wutai. Vincent had objected by pointing out that she could just run away again. Aerith had said they should leave that decision to Rufus or the Turks when they landed, while Yuffie has alternated between cussing Reno out and preening under Vincent's pseudo-praise. There was a fair bit of yelling, but it wasn't totally unpleasant.

By the time they reached Midgar, it was late afternoon. Zack could see the smoke from miles away.

“Did someone bomb you guys?” Yuffie asked, trying to stand on his lap to see better.

“You're gonna bonk your head or something!” Zack scolded, yanking her back down and wrapping both arms around her to keep her pinned.

“She already heard us talking at Banora, so why are we bothering to hide it from her? Who'll believe her anyway? We arranged for this!” Genesis snapped.

“Wait, you're really throwing a coup?!” Yuffie shrieked in surprise, her sheer volume creating high-pitched feedback in the headsets.

“Not exactly...” Sephiroth grimaced.

“Wait, that reminds me!” Zack gasped, leaning forward. Yuffie objected as she got squished with the action. “What about Jenova?!”

“Currently locked up in Deepground until we can figure out the safest disposal method. We don't exactly want other people getting ahold of it, after all.” Reno answered grimly.

“... Maybe the washing away has something to do with it?” Vincent offered.

“I guess I'll have to try talking to her again...” Aerith sighed. “At least this time I'll have a clear question to ask, instead of not knowing what I'm doing.”

“Just lemme know when so I can help. Unless you think you got this now?” Zack offered.

“Mm. I think I still want your support even if I do.” she smiled, patting his knee as Yuffie made gagging-noises at them.


	31. Chapter 31

“Who is it?” Zack called as he laid his cards flat. Yuffie squawked indignantly, practically throwing hers in the air.

“Valentine.” came the gruff answer.

“Aah, it's unlocked!” he invited, sweeping Yuffie's gil up to join his.

“One more game! Or are you chicken!” the bratty princess challenged as the door opened up.

“Hmm, why don't you wait until Vincent and I are done talking? That way you can calm down and clear your head so you can school your expressions better.” Zack replied, picking up the cards and shuffling the deck. Yuffie pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away. Leaning back so he was looking up at Vincent, he greeted, “What's up?”

After arriving in Midgar, Aerith and Gladiolus had been escorted back to the slums. Sephiroth had taken Genesis to get reinstated, while Reno took Hollander to lock-up and Vincent went off to rejoin the other Turks. Zack had, perhaps unwisely, decided to hold onto Yuffie instead of handing her over to anyone. Unstable as Shinra was right now, her survival chances were probably highest with him. He'd sent emails to Cloud and Kunsel, then brought her to his apartment. They had been playing various card games for the past few hours, and for the last handful Yuffie had suggested they play for money. Normally Zack wasn't very good at gambling, but her face was very expressive and her ability to read his face correctly seemed nonexistent. As a result, he was slowly but surely cleaning the princess out.

“... I messed up.” Vincent said, voice low and harsh, talons gripping the back of the sofa so hard Zack could hear it starting to tear.

“Messed up how?”

The old Turk was quiet, and Zack realized the man was wearing a thousand-yard-stare. Concerned, he stood slowly up.

“Hey Vince,” he said gently, holding up his hands where they could be seen, “I'm gonna walk around the couch and put my hand on your shoulder, okay? Once I do that, I'm gonna lead you around to this side so you can sit down. After that, Yuffie and I will go make hot chocolate, and then you can tell me about it, okay?”

He got no response. A glance at Yuffie showed her eyes were wide and her face concerned. He didn't think she understood entirely what was going on, but she knew something was happening.

Moving slowly around the couch, Zack reached out—

“Don't.” Vincent rasped. His voice sounded... off.

“Can you sit for me, Vincent? Sit down and take a few deep breaths while Yuffie helps me make hot chocolate?” Zack coaxed.

Slowly, Vincent's claws pulled out of the couch. As the old Turk moved around the piece of furniture, Zack gestured Yuffie towards the kitchen. Thankfully, she obeyed without any complaints. Following her in, he began pulling out what they would need, quietly explaining to her what they were doing. She grew excited at the prospect of whipped cream and marshmallows, but thankfully kept her volume down. He didn't want any loud, sudden noises triggering Vincent's so-claimed ‘ugly changes.’

Three mugs of hot chocolate in hand, Zack lead Yuffie back out to the couch. He put them down on the table, and she held out the whipped cream and marshmallows.

“Vince.” Zack said softly, sitting on the other end of the couch as the man. Crimson eyes flicked to him. “You want anything in your hot chocolate?”

The old Turk's gaze slid to Yuffie, and Zack could see her repressed a shiver. He wondered if she'd ever seen anyone in the state Vincent was currently in. Probably not. Even with the war, she seemed pretty sheltered.

“... No,” Vincent said at length, delicately and slowly claiming a mug, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Zack reassured, taking the marshmallows. He added a generous handful to his own mug and a more modest one to Yuffie's before she added while whipped cream. Cradling the warm ceramic in his hands, Zack coaxed, “You ready to tell me what's up?”

Vincent didn't answer, staring blankly into his mug.

Yuffie made an anxious noise, licking her lips clean of whipped cream and fiddling with the money on her side of the table.

“Okay, let's work our way over to that. I don't seem like your first pick of confessional material. Isn't Veld your partner?” Zack hummed. No one had ever trained him in how to deal with episodes like this, but he'd helped out the odd SOLDIER or trooper often enough that he was sort of figuring it out. It was hard to get down pat because every person was different, but there was a sort of procedure to it.

“He's busy,” Vincent answered mechanically, “They need to make sure their cover is solid, as well as start setting up defenses against attempts on Rufus.”

“Okay. And everyone else is busy too. But I still don't seem like the type you'd come to.” Zack murmured, blowing gently on his mug. “Rather, you seem like you'd go brood somewhere until Veld or Seph were done working. So what's up?”

Vincent was quiet. The apartment fell into silence that was broken only by the soft clinking of Yuffie's monetary rearrangement.

“... I'm not alone in my head.”

The words were broken. Forced. Zack got the feeling it was ultimately something Vincent maybe didn't want to share. Not with Zack. Not with Yuffie.

“It's okay,” he said, cutting the man off, “I don't entirely get it, but I've seen how your eyes change color. Your voice sometimes sounds like someone else entirely. You're as strong and as fast as a SOLDIER First. You were locked up for twenty years... And since all that stems from Hojo, I can draw my own conclusions. They might not be the right ones, but they can tide me over until you're ready to share on your own terms.”

His piece said, Zack sipped at his hot chocolate. His marshmallows had completely melted by this point, creating a thick white foam. Yuffie held her mug up, indicating that it was empty, and he nodded her towards the kitchen. The kid ran all over the world hunting nonexistent treasure, giving Shinra and Wutai alike the slip for years— he trusted her to get more hot chocolate without hurting herself or damaging anything, at least.

As Yuffie moved to the kitchen, Vincent murmured, “My father was a scientist.”

Zack turned so he was looking at the old Turk. He didn't think the guy had done more than stare at his hot chocolate.

“... His research was focused on the Lifestream, a certain group of summons, and a one-of-a-kind materia. I don't know the full extent of it all. But there were... experiments with dark Lifestream runoff. Similar to the Jenova Project.” Vincent said.

“... Going off of current events, I'm going to guess that those two survivors are the end product of that experimentation.” Zack hummed as Yuffie returned. He didn't comment on the rather excessive amount of marshmallows she took this time— if she got too hyper, he'd hand her off to Reno.

“... If I had known that his research was being used that way... if I hadn't just locked myself up and slept... then these sins wouldn't exist...”

Vincent didn't strike Zack as the religious type. Most Turks didn't. But he had learned there was a lot more to people than met the eye.

“Hojo hid how much from everyone?” Zack asked.

Red eyes blinked, looking vaguely confused.

Putting his mug down, Zack counted on his fingers, “He hid you, he hid Jenova, he hid Jenova's true form, he hid Seph's parentage, he hid Deepground... Even as a Turk, would you have known that was going on? I don't think blaming yourself for that is right.”

Vincent didn't say anything, looking away.

“... Okay, let's try this. How old are they?”

That got Vincent's attention again.

“If it's in a similar line to what gave us Seph and Genesis, then they're probably in the same age group. If you really feel that responsible for all of them, then take responsibility.” Zack suggested.

“That makes no sense.” Yuffie declared.

“You hush and drink your hot chocolate,” Zack ordered before continuing, “When we first found you, you called yourself Sephiroth's godfather. Whether or not that's true, why don't you extend that role to them, as well? If they've lived their whole lives under Hojo's tender mercies, I imagine they kinda need someone to take over and take care of them. Maybe they aren't little kids, but they missed out on their childhoods— all three of them. So if you're worried about your sins, atone for them by helping them out! Seph had Genesis and Angeal, so he should be decently okay, but it sounds like our survivors have only had each other. Show them that it's okay now, and that they can live normally.”

“... And how would you do that?” Vincent asked, red eyes boring into him.

He smiled. “I'd start with my name and explain about the research, then apologize and promise to do better. After that, I'd take them out to eat, or to my place so they could sleep in an actual bed. And the next day, I'd let them make their decision about if they want to stay or not.”

Slowly, Vincent nodded, and put his untouched hot chocolate down. Standing up, the old Turk said, “I see why everyone speaks so highly of you.”

Before Zack could ask what he meant, Vincent turned towards the door, saying, “I'll try. I don't know how well it'll go... but I'll try.”

“You got this.” Zack encouraged as the door shut.

There was a moment of quiet.

“... Can we play our game now?” Yuffie asked quietly.

Zack picked up the card-deck and shuffled. As he did, he asked her, “How about you, anything you wanna get off your chest?”

Instantly, she puffed up like an offended cat, spitting insults and battle-cries. Zack couldn't help but laugh, glad the heavy weight of the conversation hadn't crushed her spirit.


	32. Chapter 32

“... So, uh, where are we going?” Cloud asked, fidgeting with the hem of his uniform-top.

“To see the prez.” Zack answered easily as the elevator moved.

“Why?”

“You'll see. But that aside, how's it feel finally getting into SOLDIER?”

The blonde looked down, mumbling, “You didn't have to cheat me in...”

“I didn't,” Zack smirked, “I just pointed out that your test-scores were a hell of a lot like mine and punched a hole in Heidegger's desk.”

Cloud jerked, wide-eyed in surprise.

It was the day after their return. Zack had cautiously entrusted Yuffie to the Turks, saying that he'd be back to pick her up at the end of the day. He had called Aerith and seen how she was doing. She apparently planned to try talking to the planet again soon, but it looked like he was going to be busy enough that he wouldn't be there for it this time. He'd gotten an email from Kunsel that talked about the suicide-bombers and gunmen who'd attacked Shinra HQ and how he'd be back in Midgar soon. Kunsel, as always, seemed to know what was actually going on and insisted that Zack tell him everything the next time they saw each other. Sephiroth and Genesis were talking with the remnants of the Science Department about a cure for the degradation. Zack wasn't exactly holding his breath, but who knew? Maybe they'd get something. And Vincent had sent him an email that simply said ‘thank you,’ so he was choosing to believe that was going well.

Which left him and Cloud in the elevator going up.

“You did what?” his new protege gaped.

“I told Heidegger that his draft for SOLDIER was stupid, and that the testing overseers weren't doing their jobs right. When he blew me and my request for leave off, I messed up his desk. Told him to invest in metal instead of fancy wood.” Zack grinned.

Before Cloud could say anything, the elevator dinged.

“C'mon.” Zack instructed, leading the way across the floor to the VP office in the back. The Turks standing guard barely spared him a glance as he pulled Cloud along to the seventieth floor.

“Lieutenant Commander Fair,” Rufus greeted, sounding more like an observation, “I wasn't aware I was expecting you.”

Tseng and Cissnei stood near the new president's desk, looking at him with their own degrees of curiosity.

“I came to deliver an ultimatum.” Zack said, standing in the middle of the huge office, arms folded over his chest. He could feel Cloud's nervous energy, the poor kid probably not expecting this on his first day of SOLDIER training.

Rufus raised an eyebrow, reclining back in his chair. A gesture to go on.

“I want you to do right by Shinra.” Zack said simply, tipping his chin back.

“Do right?” Rufus echoed.

“Yeah. No more human experimentation, no more Turks locked in basements, no more kids without parents. Shinra is supposed to lead people, not bury them.” he nodded.

The blonde sat forward, eyes glinting. “And what, exactly, is your ‘or else,’ puppy?”

In the time it took to blink, Zack had crossed the room and brought his fist down. The desk crunched and splintered, digging into and scraping at his skin as it gave. As Tseng drew his gun and Cissnei took up a fighting stance, the two halves of the massive desk collapsed, everything on top sliding down into a jumbled heap between them. Zack heard the sharp, frightful noise from Cloud, and could see the shock and utter disbelief in Rufus's icy eyes. He stepped forward, planting a boot in the mess of papers, pens, and nicknacks.

“Zack...!” Tseng cried, and it was a strangled, desperate voice that Zack never wanted to hear ever again from his cool and composed friend—

The back of his hand made contact with Rufus's cheek.

“Take responsibility for your actions, Rufus,” Zack ordered as the young president touched his face in blatant disbelief, “The actions of your company are your actions and vice versa, whether you like it or not. I am not loyal to Rufus Shinra. I am loyal to Shinra Electric, and I believe in the good of the people of this company. I do not approve of people using this company for their own selfish gains, like Hojo and Heidegger did. There are too many children without parents in this world thanks to the actions of this company, and I want an end to that. I want Sephiroth to feel like he has a home. I want Genesis not to feel like he needs to kill to prove himself. I want Vincent to feel like he's atoned for whatever sins he perceives bearing. I want Cloud to feel proud when he wears his uniform, and I want Aerith to see us as allies, not monsters. I want to be proud of the fact that I am Shinra, and I haven't felt that way in a long time.”

That said, Zack stepped back. Tseng and Cissnei both let out almost imperceivable noises of relief. Cloud let out a breath that sounded like he'd been holding it for a while. Rufus just stared.

“Puppies grow up, kiddo,” he told the blonde, “Will you?”

Turning on his heel, Zack began to march away. He clapped Cloud on the shoulder as he walked past, and his friend hurried to follow after him. No one stopped them as they left, and neither of them said anything until they were in the elevator going down.

“And that,” Zack hummed nonchalantly, “Concludes SOLDIER lesson one, dealing with executives whose heads have gotten too big for their offices.”

That seemed to snap Cloud out of his daze, the kid saying, “You just threatened the president.”

“Yup.” Zack hummed, leaning back and waiting.

“You just— Shiva's tits, you just backhanded Rufus Shinra!” the small blonde half-yelled, looking frantic.

He couldn't help but grin, declaring, “That was nothing on Nibelheim.”

“I don't want to know what you did in Nibelheim!”

Knocked over a collection of bookshelves, usurped command, cut of Genesis's wing, and woke the dead, but who was keeping track?

“Well then, should we get you some clean pants and head down to the training rooms?” Zack offered nonchalantly. “Or are you gonna tell me you didn't crap yourself?”

Cloud turned his gaze up, as if asking for patience, and Zack laughed heartily.


	33. Chapter 33

“You,” Kunsel declared as he squatted down, “Are adorable.”

Yuffie did her offended cat impression. “Am not! I'm a cool and badass ninja!”

“And Zack's a cool and badass SOLDIER, we still call him cute.” Kunsel grinned, fearlessly ruffling the girl's hair. As she cursed in Wutaian, the Second stood up and asked, “And you had no clue this was Princess Kisaragi?”

“It's not exactly like I was shown pictures of all the Wutaian nobles. And who would suspect a globetrotting sneak-thief like her to be a princess?” Zack replied. “Yuffie, give Kunsel his wallet back.”

The girl stuck her tongue out and stomped her foot, but when Zack stomped back, she obeyed.

“I didn't even notice— You got a steal materia on, kiddo?” Kunsel asked, turning his wallet over as if he'd never seen it before.

“No, she's just a sneak. Aren't you?” Zack challenged.

Yuffie crossed her arms over her chest in a pout.

“Yeah, adorable.” Kunsel nodded, prompting another Wutaian tirade. “How'd you get stuck with babysitting duty?”

“Because I don't trust anyone else with it, really. We're kinda in shambles right now, everyone's busy with something or other, and if anyone like Avalanche attacks us right now, protecting her won't be anyone's priority except mine. She's safest with me.” Zack explained. “I'm working on sending her back, though.”

“You can't make me!” Yuffie yelled, beating on his abdomen in her fury.

“Oh yes I can,” he shot back, grabbing her wrists easily, “And when I do I'm going to see if I can't have a talk with your dad about the whole running away thing.”

“He doesn't even care!” the bratty princess burst out.

Ordinarily Zack would fight that, but something in her voice made him pause, exchanging a look with Kunsel.

“H-he just does whatever Shinra says now! I'm just told to stay quiet an' outta th' way! L-like we're just some, some, some tourist trap!” Yuffie wailed in the pause, drawing a few stares from passers-by.

Oh dear.

Zack knelt down so he was eye-level with her. “Did you try talking with him? At all?” he asked gently as Kunsel waved the rubberneckers away.

“He doesn't listen!” Yuffie cried, stomping her foot and tugging at her hands.

He kept a firm but gentle grip on her, coaxing, “How much did you try before you gave up?”

“Every day!”

“Okay. Did you just yell and scream, or did you hold a proper conversation?” he continued.

She blinked, making a confused noise even as her lip wobbled and eyes watered.

“Yelling and screaming only works if you do it once in a while, and even then you have to time it right. If he's not listening to you shout at him, try requesting a formal audience. Stay calm when you speak, and really listen to what he says in return. If you do that and he still doesn't listen, well... then he probably has more in common with Shinra than anyone's willing to admit.” Zack explained. Yuffie made a horrified face at the last bit. “I'm not gonna lecture you too hard on running away from home to be a hero, since I did that exact thing. But you gotta be willing to talk things out with people, Yuffie. I mean, even though I ran away from home, I still write my family letters every month. We may not really agree on my being in SOLDIER, but we talk our differences out.”

He let that hang in the air, and slowly let go of her wrists.

Before Yuffie could say or do anything, a hand clamped down on Zack's head, ruffling his hair. “Now who said you could go and get so damn mature?” Kunsel teased.

“H-hey, quit it!” Zack ordered, batting the Second's hand away and getting to his feet.

“It feels like just yesterday you were mooching my materia to make your Thirdie missions easier, I ever tell you that?” Kunsel continued, wiggling fingers shooting for Zack's sides.

“Yes, often! Quittit, man! I gotta go pick up Spiky!” Zack squeaked, recoiling away and bumping into Yuffie. She made a noise of objection and shoved back. “Hey, no ganging up! You jerks!”

“Are we interrupting something?”

“Seph, Gen, help! Eek! No, kidney-pokes are illegal! Stoppit!" Zack shrieked, trying to block both assailants at once. But the height-difference between the ticklers was too much, and he couldn't do it effectively. He was kind of up on one leg, trying to hide his stomach and side with his thigh, swatting at Yuffie with one hand and trying to block Kunsel's jabs with his other arm. But it seemed like every time he blocked Kunsel, Yuffie had darted behind him, and in the time it took to shoo her back where he could see, the Second would have grabbed onto his leg and tickled in the crook of his knee. “Seph, help!” he pleaded, trying to hold Yuffie at length with his foot.

Thankfully, the staring Firsts came over and lended him their aid. Sephiroth scooped Yuffie up, in turn earning her ire, while Genesis just snapped his fingers next to Kunsel's ear and got him to flinch away from the noise.

“Whew,” Zack panted, shaking himself out, “Thanks for the save!”

“Never mind that, what did you do to cause such mutiny?” Genesis huffed disdainfully.

“Why's it always mutiny and desertion with you? No, don't answer, I don't wanna know. I gotta go get Cloud. Gimme my ninja.” Zack grumped, reaching out to take Yuffie from Sephiroth as she writhed.

“Oh, like you're any better. What's this about you beating up the president?” the redhead snarked back.

“Yeah, is that true?” Kunsel grinned as Zack tucked Yuffie under one arm.

“Like he didn't deserve a smack or two. Congrats on reinstatement, hope the cure search goes well, gotta go.”


	34. Chapter 34

Yuffie and Cloud, Zack had found, did not get along well.

He didn't know what it was exactly that was keeping them from getting along. Maybe Yuffie was too bold and crass for the somewhat more submissive Cloud. Maybe Cloud was too strict and military for the wild and all over the place Yuffie. Maybe it was a combination of age and gender differences. Maybe it was purely Cloud defending himself against Yuffie's persistent anti-Shinra battle-cries and sneak-attacks. But whatever it was, the two of them seemed incapable of coexisting within the same five feet of space. Or without something— namely a Zack-torso— between them.

“Have we learned our lessons?” Zack asked, tapping his foot as he looked expectantly at the two.

“Yes, sir...” Cloud muttered.

“Yuffie?” Zack prompted, hands on his hips.

“I get it!” she snapped, drumming her heels on the floor.

“Politely, please, or I'll start making you write lines.”

“... I understand...” Yuffie grumbled.

“Okay. You may come out of your corners now.”

The two stood up, Cloud wobbling in the telltale manner of sleeping legs.

“Next time you two try to start a brawl, it'll be an hour of time-out and fifty lines for both of you.” Zack informed them, handing Cloud back his sword.

“... Be less humiliating to scrub floors...” the blonde grumbled, falling into his stance as Yuffie stomped around the training room.

“Nope. If the two of you are gonna behave like kids, I'm gonna punish you like kids. As a member of SOLDIER, you have an image to uphold and maintain as noble and honorable, and—”

“She started it!” Cloud burst out, hot-faced and indignant.

“Run through your forms before I put you back in the corner, Spiky.” Zack advised. As his protege obeyed, he turned to Yuffie. “And you, young lady, are a princess. Even if you reject that title or whatever, you should at least pretend to care and mind your manners. And even if you do reject the title of princess, a warrior can't go around picking fights at the drop of a hat. There's absolutely no honor in that.”

She instantly stopped stomping around to yell, “Shinra has no honor so why should I?!”

Sensing Cloud's impending yell back, Zack turned his head to look at the blonde. The Third withered and resumed practicing. With yet another fight averted, Zack folded his arms over his chest and gave his full attention to Yuffie.

“First of all, if all you do is scream like that, your father's never gonna listen to you. Picking fights does not, actually, solve everything.” he said sternly. She turned blotchy red and opened her mouth, but Zack continued, “And second, even if you perceive someone as having no honor, you should strive to keep some code of your own, lest you become just as bad as them.”

She froze, tense and quivering. Zack waited, watching her expectantly.

“No-no-no, if we do that we get left with the Turks again!” he gasped, lunging to grab her as she suddenly bolted for the door. She didn't answer, just screamed in Wutaian and flailed wildly. Sighing, he pinned her arms to her sides and tucked her under his arm. “How you doing, Cloud?”

“Wouldn't it be easier to leave her with the Turks all the time?” the blonde asked sourly.

“Maybe, but I don't know if they'd actually watch her or chain her to the wall with a gag in her mouth.” Zack answered. “Besides, they're kinda busy with everything else, and it'd be unfair to lump more on them. And Yuffie, as much as I admire your tenacity I don't think you can kick my crotch at this angle.”

The next insult gave him the impression that his ancestors were being cursed. He made a mental note to get someone to teach him Wutaian. If his ma was getting cussed out then Zack wanted to at least have some snappy comeback in hand. And maybe be able to put Yuffie in the corner doing lines for slanderous profanity.

Jeez. If a month ago, anyone had told Zack that he'd be babysitting a runaway royal the same way he used to get babysat as a tantrum-throwing kid, he'd have escorted them to the infirmary to get their head checked. Might've grinned and patted them on the shoulder and asked if they'd had a bit too much to drink. But here he was, rescinding hot chocolate privileges, issuing lines, and setting time-outs.

Before long, their time in the training room was up. Zack gave Cloud some pointers and things to practice, then sent the blonde off of his way. He, on the other hand, kept Yuffie clamped under his arm and waited for the elevator, ignoring the stares he was getting. Credit where credit was due, Yuffie had quite the set of lungs, especially considering how she was currently restrained.

The elevator opened, and he found himself looking at Vincent and a pair of Sephiroth-sized strangers he didn't recognize.

“Hey there, Vince.” Zack greeted casually, stepping on and punching the button for his apartment's floor.

“... Did something happen?” the old Turk asked as the strangers stared at the writhing princess.

“So Yuffie and Cloud don't get along. Long story short there were a lot of time-outs and someone isn't getting any hot chocolate before bed tonight.” Zack answered.

“Time-outs.” Vincent said flatly.

“In a corner and everything.” he confirmed. “How about you, how're you getting along?”

After a moment spent blinking, Vincent turned to the two strangers. “Weiss, Nero, this is Zack. Zack, these two are the Deepground survivors, Weiss and Nero.”

“Hiya.” Zack smiled with a casual two-finger salute. After a moment, the two nodded back, slow and silent. Zack got the feeling he was being evaluated.

“And that one?” Weiss rumbled, looking pointedly at Yuffie, who was finally tiring out and settling for glaring at everyone.

“This little sneak is Yuffie. I'm babysitting her until we can get her back home to Wutai. Yuffie, say hello.” Zack introduced.

A string of angry Wutaian answered him.

“Vincent, could I convince you to teach me Wutaian? If someone's going to verbally beat me up I wanna at least know what's being said.”


	35. Chapter 35

“Aah, so you'll be going to Wutai?” Aerith asked as Zack pointed insistently at Yuffie's vegetables.

“Yep. Bright and early tomorrow morning.” he answered, switching the phone to his other shoulder. “We have a formal audience with the emperor and everything.”

That made Yuffie look up, eyes wide. Zack mouthed for her to eat her vegetables and got a raspberry for his hard work.

“Best behavior for you, then!” Aerith giggled.

“Tseng gave me a crash course in etiquette, and he'll be coming with us to boot. I'm taking Cloud along, since this'll be a valuable learning experience. SOLDIER isn't all hacking and slashing at monsters and baddies, after all.” Zack hummed back, crossing his legs as he sat down. If Yuffie wanted to be stubborn, she was sorely underestimating Zack's ability to hold out in wars of attrition. It wasn't his strong suit by any means, but he was no slouch.

“Well, when you get back, come visit, okay? And bring Seph and Gen with you.” Aerith advised.

“Oh? Did you get that figured out?” he asked, breath admittedly a little bated.

“Almost. I need a few more days, I think, but that should give you time to get back from your trip.”

“Hold that thought?” Zack asked. “Yuffie, I can hear the carrots hitting the floor and see you dumping them down your shirt. Eat your veggies or you're going straight to bed with no card-games.”

Aerith laughed in his ear as the pint-sized princess glared. Zack stared impassively back.

After a long, tense moment, Yuffie stuffed a forkful of vegetables in her mouth. As she gagged dramatically, Zack turned his attention back to the phone-call, asking, “Where were we?”

“When you get back from Wutai, I think I'll have this whole Cetra thing figured out, and you'll have to bring the general and Genesis to visit me.” Aerith answered, her voice still tinged with mirth. “You'll be an excellent father one day, I think.”

He blushed, rearranging his legs under the table. “I wouldn't go that far...”

“Well, I think you will, even if you don't.” she declared.

“It's just kinda far off, y'know? I mean... I have no guarantee I'll make it that long.” Zack pointed out. Which was true, any kind of military life was dangerous and filled with risks. SOLDIER was just a special kind of dangerous.

“Mm. I think you will.” Aerith said, voice brimming with so much confidence Zack couldn't help but believe her.

“Well then, Miss Aerith, what would you name my firstborn?” he teased. Yuffie gagged more, and he reached out to tap at her plate.

“Hm... Angelica for a girl, and... how about Banner for a boy?” she suggested.

Zack smiled softly. “Yeah. I like those.”

“I'm done!” Yuffie announced loudly, brandishing her plate.

“Cool, then you can clean up the ones on the floor and put them in the garbage. Make sure you wipe the floor with a damp cloth afterwards so nothing gets sticky.” he informed her. She stared, scandalized and disbelieving, as Aerith laughed in his ear. “If you do that without complaining, then we can get straight to playing cards. Still no hot chocolate, though.”

The girl stuck her tongue out, but did as she was told.

“Maybe we should name your daughter Yuffie!” Aerith laughed, sounding breathless.

“Absolutely not!” Zack replied. He could just imagine how big a head this one would get, and he didn't want to picture the teenage years. “I should get going, though. I need to do the dishes so nothing holds up the game.”

“Mkay. Good luck in Wutai. Stay safe.”

“You too. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

He hung up, smiling still.

“Why're you so lovey?” Yuffie demanded as he stood up and grabbed the dishes from the table.

“Because she's my girlfriend. You're supposed to be lovey with your girlfriend.” Zack replied simply. “You missed a few under the table.”

“You're not supposed to be that lovey unless you're getting married.” Yuffie declared, carrying her handful of carrots to the trash as Zack started running the hot water.

“Maybe I want to marry her. Cleaning rags are in that cabinet there, left side. Come wash your hands first, though.”

“But you aren't!” Yuffie burst out, looking frustrated and lost.

“Well, not yet. I would like to, but I think things need to settle down a lot first. Besides, we haven't introduced our parents yet, and that's a pretty important step.” he told her as she came to wash her hands. “Bring me a rag too, please?”

“What if she doesn't want to marry you?” the little girl challenged.

“Then she says so, we talk out our differences, and hopefully we stay good enough of friends that when she does get married I can be her man of honor. Or at least get invited to the wedding. And I cry about it over drinks at some point because she's absolutely perfect and I can't picture a future without her.” Zack answered calmly, taking the rags from Yuffie and getting one damp before handing it back.

“... Hrmph.” Yuffie growled, in a tone that suggested it was a grand declaration and not a wordless noise that Cloud might make while in the back of a rickety old truck.

“Focus on the spots where the carrots were, but do a general sweep of the whole floor. It's kinda due for a quick scrub.” Zack instructed as he soaped up his own rag. Thankfully, there was no back-sass. “I'll be waking you up early tomorrow so we can get going. Tseng doesn't appreciate being made to wait, trust me, and we have to grab Cloud before we go.”

“Does he have to come?” the girl groaned.

“Yes. He's my student and I'm responsible for training him. Diplomatic missions are just as important as monster-sweeps and he needs to learn about them just as much as you.”

“But I don't like him!” she stomped.

“I'm not fond of Rufus, I still work for the man.” Zack pointed out, tucking the dishes into the drying rack. “I'll be on the couch. Lemme know when you're done so I can check your work.”


	36. Chapter 36

“Breathe in through your nose and hold it a few seconds before breathing out through your mouth. Slowly.” Zack advised, rubbing both Cloud and Yuffie's shoulders.

It turned out that Yuffie got motion-sick too. Not nearly as bad as Cloud did, but sitting together was sharing misery, and Zack thought they'd just created a sort of negative feedback loop for themselves. Now that they had landed in Wutai, he was doing his best to comfort both of them, talking them through the lingering nausea.

“Just breathe with me for a minute, okay? Follow my breathing.” he instructed, holding out a hand to use as their timer. As he breathed in, he lifted his hand up, holding it shoulder-level a few moments before dropping it back down as he exhaled. Cloud and Yuffie followed along, looking up at him with big sad chocobo-chick eyes.

Tseng thankfully was waiting patiently just off to the side, but Zack knew they were on the clock. Even if Wutai was no longer an independent nation, the emperor was still technically a busy man. He needed to calm these two down quick and then stay between them so they didn't fight or cause any sort of ruckus. At least Yuffie seemed to be recovering fast.

“Okay, Spiky, think you'll be good now? Yuffie?” Zack asked after another few repetitions. He received a pair of subdued nods. “Okay. Don't push yourselves. C'mon.”

Yuffie didn't fight him when he took her hand, and he couldn't tell if it was leftover motion-sickness or if she was looking forward to meeting with her father that little. With Yuffie in hand and Cloud at his side, Zack nodded to Tseng. The Turk nodded back and began leading the way.

As they walked, Zack was fully aware of the dirty and fearful looks they were being shot. Cloud was too, from how his protege was wilting.

“Not everyone likes Shinra, kiddo,” he said gently, patting the blonde's shoulder, “And not everyone likes SOLDIER, even within Shinra. Everywhere you go, someone or other is going to spit at you.”

“... Yeah...” Cloud mumbled.

“So it's our job to show them we're worth liking. We have to be good, noble people willing to help solve any problem. And if we can do that and not cause problems, or give any reasons to hate us, then that'll help make them like us.” Zack instructed, smiling gently.

Tseng cleared his throat, and Zack realized they were entering the palace. Recalling the etiquette crash-course, he kept his gaze ahead, trying not to swivel and stare the way he desperately wanted to. Cloud was doing a good job of the same, it seemed— Zack had relayed all he could recall to the blonde during the helicopter-ride. Thankfully the kid had been able to absorb at least some of it through his wooziness.

That or Cloud was just that terrified of meeting the emperor of Wutai.

Which, honestly, Zack could get. He was pretty nervous too.

A pair of lightly armored guards met them, and Tseng stopped, bowing. Zack copied the action, Cloud doing so as well. He hoped his butt wasn't sticking out too much— Tseng had told him that was childish and disrespectful, not to mention sloppy. He also hoped he was getting the degree of the bow right. Apparently you were supposed to bow at different angles for different people, but Tseng had just told Zack to copy him. It seemed complex to a silly degree, in all honesty, but Zack intended to do his best to avoid trampling any toes.

The guards didn't say anything, good or bad, just turned and took the lead. Zack noticed Yuffie was looking more and more sullen. Slipping his hand free of hers, he gently set his palm on her head. She squeaked a little, looking up at him. He smiled reassuringly.

But there wasn't any time to say anything. They were being led into a big room that Zack was assuming to be a throne room or a meeting room. One or the other. Maybe both. The two guards went to stand by the side of the dark-haired man rising to greet them. Tseng stopped, bowing again, and this time even Yuffie copied the action.

“My apologies for any inconvenience my daughter has caused.” the man said in a weary tone. This must've been Emperor Godo, then.

“Our Lieutenant Commander repeatedly reported no trouble. Our gratitude for you taking the time to meet us.” Tseng replied crisply. Zack suspected the only reason he caught the guards' hisses was due to his enhancement. Yuffie had already expressed her thoughts on Tseng working for Shinra, but hearing adults hiss like that— surely Tseng had his circumstances— it was a new kind of low.

The emperor nodded, arms folded behind him. “Yes... what is it Shinra wants of us now?”

“Not Shinra, Your Majesty,” Zack said, drawing all eyes in the room to him, “Just Yuffie.”

She kicked him in the shin.

Tseng stepped back, hovering by the door, and after a moment spent hesitating Cloud joined him. The emperor looked surprised, gaze riveted on his daughter now.

“Go on, kiddo.” Zack encouraged, patting Yuffie's shoulder and nudging her forward when she just stared at the floor.

After a moment, the princess looked up. “... Daddy,” she asked quietly, “Why aren't you fighting back?”

Instantly, the emperor and guards looked concerned. The guards had eyes on Tseng, while Emperor Godo apologized, “She's still young, she doesn't know what she's saying...”

“She's ten years old,” Zack replied calmly, “She knows enough. Go on, Yuffie. I know you aren't done yet.”

The Wutaians all looked shocked at his words. Emperor Godo turned his gaze back to Yuffie quivering before him.

“... It's like... like we can't even be proud of who we are... and you don't care... you don't do anything...” the little girl said, voice shaking. Zack could see how much she wanted to let loose, and he was proud of her for being so mature right now. “I... I wanna be proud that... that I'm from Wutai... that I'm... our princess... b-but... we're... we're just some tourist trap now! A-and—”

“Remember what we discussed about yelling, kiddo.” Zack cut in, reaching out to ruffle Yuffie's hair. She jolted at his touch, but took several deep breaths.

“... I just wanna know why you gave up. You... didn't even fight it. How'm I supposed to be proud of that?” Yuffie finished, and while he couldn't see her face from this angle Zack could picture the wet shiny eyes all too easily.

Emperor Godo appeared to hesitate. As Yuffie's trembling renewed, the man's gaze flicked over Zack, then towards the door. Zack waited patiently with his hands by his sides.

At long last, the emperor knelt down on one knee, speaking in soft Wutaian to his daughter. Zack twisted back to glance at Tseng, but the lack of blatant interest from the Turk suggested that it was personal and he shouldn't butt in.

Well. Butt in more.

Yuffie sniffled, saying something back. Godo shook his head, but his expression was soft enough. Zack continued to wait as they continued their conversation. When Yuffie started to sound like she was spewing curses again, he reached out to poke between her shoulder-blades and remind her to use polite speech. The emperor chuckled at that.

At length, Yuffie threw herself at her father, wrapping her arms around his neck with a loud hiccup that just barely wasn't a sob. Emperor Godo carefully soothed over her back a few times before freeing himself and standing.

“Lieutenant Commander,” the man said, sounding less weary and more tired, “Would you join us for tea?”

Scrabbling to remember what Tseng had told him for a minute, Zack inclined his head, replying, “I would be honored, Your Majesty.”

As the emperor nodded back, Zack turned to look at Cloud. “Cloud, you're in charge. If Tseng misbehaves, grapple him.”

“Grapple him?!” Cloud demanded, voice squeaking a little as Tseng raised an eyebrow. “He's a Turk!”

“And you're a SOLDIER, you're enhanced and he isn't.” Zack reminded as Yuffie sniggered.

“He can kill me with his pinky!” Cloud objected, holding his little finger up to demonstrate.

“And you can kill him with your thumb, so you're even.” Zack answered, giving a thumbs-up in turn. “Plus it's only if he misbehaves, but Tseng's so straight-laced I think we've more chance of flying behemoths than that.”

The guards on the other end of the room snorted as Tseng turned his gaze up, pretending to examine the sky through the ceiling. Cloud just looked horrified as Zack followed Yuffie and the emperor away.

“... Flying behemoths, hm?” Godo asked.

“Sorry if I was stepping out of, uh, etiquette rules back there,” Zack apologized, “I'm kind of a country hick, and Tseng only managed to give me a crash course.”

“You conduct yourself well, in that case.” the emperor told him, a ghost of a smile on his face as his eyes flicked to Yuffie. The princess stuck her tongue out.

Zack followed the two out into a courtyard of sorts, sparsely decorated, and into a gazebo slightly off from center of the space. As he took a seat at the low table in the gazebo, he realized that the small rocks filling the courtyard were carefully raked into concentric circles, like ripples in a pond. The irises and orchids— right, that's what those were?— seemed mainly to be border-decoration, nearly hiding the little fountain in the corner. It was sparse, but it was all carefully thought-out and meticulously done.

He really wished that relations between Shinra and Wutai were better. He would've loved to learn about the reasoning behind the yard's appearance and layout.

“You have my gratitude for returning my daughter to me,” Emperor Godo said, drawing Zack's attention back to the table, “I do not doubt that many would have been... less kind to her.”

The man wasn't wrong, really. A lot of Shinra was pretty firmly anti-Wutai, and Yuffie was... trying, to say the least

“I admit she kinda tested me here and there, but she's little still. I can't fault her that when I more than tested people around me at her age.” Zack smiled. She rolled her eyes.

The emperor chuckled, then grew serious. Someone seemed to all but materialize in the gazebo with a tea-set, leaving it on the table before vanishing. Godo poured three cups of tea and slid one across the table to Zack. Floundering a little since Tseng hadn't covered tea-time, he dipped his head in gratitude.

“Lieutenant Commander,” Emperor Godo began, “It is clear to me that you hold a powerful position within Shinra's company. And yet you don't seem to mind my daughter's rebellious behavior. I admit I am... perplexed at this.”

Zack answered, “I don't think it's right to completely wipe out things that don't agree with you. Even though we were enemies, when I first came to Wutai as a major, I remember being really in-awe of everything. It was all so different compared to everything I'd ever seen. The way the warriors fought and moved was so new, unlike anything I'd been taught, and the way the buildings were built into nature, almost as a part of it rather than carving space out. It was amazing, and I still regret that our relations aren't better. I would like to learn, and make friends, and experience Wutai's culture. Back then I couldn't because it was my job, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to in the future. Seeing Yuffie be so strong-willed and determined to hold on to her freedom— to Wutai's freedom— Aah, sorry... I don't want to come off as condescending or anything...”

Emperor Godo remained quiet as Zack searched for words. Yuffie seemed to be growing bored, tracing patterns on the table with her finger. She was certainly wearing her bored face, the one that Zack had learned meant it was time to bust out the cards before she caused mischief.

“... I grew up under Shinra rule,” he decided, “When I was a kid, it was my dream to join them and do all sorts of cool things. When I learned of SOLDIER, I ran away from home to join. I wanted to become a hero, like Sephiroth.”

Yuffie knew parts of this story already. She was losing interest, squirming around and playing with her tea-cup. Had she gulped it all down already?

Emperor Godo, on the other hand, appeared to be listening intently.

“But once I joined SOLDIER, I began to realize that Shinra wasn't always right. They weren't always good. They did bad things too. But I wanted to believe that they were more right than everyone else, so I turned a blind eye to it all.”

His fists clenched on his lap, tight enough to make his knuckles pop.

“And then my mentor... I guess you could say he got sick.”

“Your mentor?” Yuffie asked, apparently tuning back in to the story.

Zack nodded. “Commander Angeal Hewley, First Class. One of SOLDIER's stars. I may have joined SOLDIER to be a hero like Sephiroth, but Angeal... he was my hero, really. And when he got sick... Shinra decided to get rid of him.”

“... We had heard of Commander Hewley's death. We had not been aware that he was ill.” Emperor Godo said, tone soft.

“He wasn't even...” Zack trailed off, running a hand through his hair. In his mind, he could see Penance. Could see the face that Cloud had commented on as looking serene while they fought, but that Zack had seen as grim. Cloud hadn't known Angeal, had been watching from a distance with everyone else as Zack fought. It was similar, like Angeal had been trying to look serene. But there were ticks and tells.

Angeal never hid his face when he was at ease.

“... It was an assisted suicide.” he finally managed to force out, telling himself he was not going to cry, no matter how much his eyes watered. “He said there was no other way. He left me his sword and— and his dog.”

Yuffie's eyes were wide with horror. Emperor Godo just looked grim.

“And Shinra,” Zack bit out, unable to keep the acid from his tone at the memory, “Promoted me.”

In effort to hide how much he wanted to scrub at his eyes, Zack scooped up his tea-cup and sipped at it. It tasted like something Cissnei had gotten for him once.

“... You killed him?” Yuffie asked, aghast at the idea. Godo shushed her.

“I didn't want to.” Zack answered, fingers rubbing over the scar on his cheek. Her eyes widened.

“My apologies,” Emperor Godo said with a dip of his head, “I did not mean to bring up such a sensitive subject.”

“It's fine.” he waved off, managing a watery smile. “But anyway, I don't want anyone else to get caught in that sort of story. Yuffie, or Cloud, or anyone. Having to choose between your duty and your honor sucks.”

Both of them made noises of amusement, Yuffie louder than her father. Zack suspected that was intentional.

“And... she's not just a kid.” Zack added. “That was how everyone saw me. I was just a kid. Zack the puppy. They didn't listen when I talked, and no one took me seriously. If they had, maybe Angeal wouldn't have died. Maybe Banora would still be a farming town instead of a barren field. But no one listened, because I was just a kid, and now I'll never know. Puppies— and kids— grow up. We're smarter and we understand more than people give us credit for. So... listen when she talks, sir. You don't have to agree with everything she says, but Yuffie isn't just a kid.”

Flashing the pint-sized princess a broad grin, Zack proudly finished, “She's the White Rose of Wutai, the strongest and coolest ninja ever.”


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short filler chapter that was honestly written as stress-relief— my last semester of college starts Monday, and I still have yet to move into my dorm due to COVID restrictions and whatnot, not to mention one of my classes has been outright cancelled and I need to get my butt into a new one to meet graduation requirements but all of the cool/fun ones are full........... so I wrote a little filler-bridge-type-thing to keep myself from experiencing a mental breakdown. Enjoy.

“And you have my email,” Zack told the little girl, “So next time you want to do something crazy like hunt for lost treasure, let me know. I might not get back to you right away, cuz I still have missions and whatnot, but I don't leave my friends hanging. Sounds good?”

“But it's more fun if I surprise you.” Yuffie pouted.

“Uh-uh, kiddo, you gotta promise to email me first, and wait for me to call you back.” Zack declared, holding out his pinky. She stuck her tongue out, but obligingly linked her pinky with his. “And next time,” he added in a stage-whisper, “Maybe I can teach you how to use Bahamut!”

She gasped, eyes going wide and grinning in delight. Everyone else— even Tseng— looked horrified. Zack understood but honestly he'd rather someone teach her than her figuring it out on her own and accidentally blowing up a city.

A little longer was spent on good-byes, and then Tseng was shepherding Zack and Cloud back into the helicopter. Zack waved for as long as he could see Yuffie, the little princess waving back.

“You really made her like you, huh.” Cloud noted moodily through the headset.

“Aww, don't be jealous, Spiky! You know you're my favorite after Aerith, right?” Zack grinned, ruffling the blonde's hair.

“It certainly doesn't hurt public image to have the SOLDIER second-in-command be on such good terms with Wutai's royal family.” Tseng threw out.

“She's such a brat, though!” Cloud exclaimed hotly.

“She's ten. I was a brat at that age too— Hell, I bet fifty gil that ten-year-old Seph was a brat!” Zack chuckled, reclining back. It was nice to not be jam-packed into a helicopter for once. The leg-room was certainly appreciated.

“No way.” Cloud scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“I don't hear you betting back, though!”

“Because I'm broke!“

Tseng cleared his throat, drawing their attention. “We will not be returning directly to Midgar. It was requested that we return to Nibelheim and investigate for any Jenova-related experiments. We'll be meeting Director Verdot and Agent Valentine there.”

“Cool. Do we have any leads on maybe possibly destroying it before anything bad happens?” Zack asked.

“Not yet. I'm led to believe that is what we're searching for.”

Zack nodded, turning his head to stare out the window.

A lot had happened in just under a month. A lot was still happening. He hoped that there was a happy ending after all was said and done, but even if there was... well, who knew how long it would take. It was already creeping up on two years since the end of the war, and...

His phone buzzed in his pocket, drawing him from his thoughts. The only was he was able to tell with all the noise-pollution was that he felt it vibrate against his thigh. As he fished it out, it vibrated again, making him roll his eyes. As Cloud stared out the window with a vacant, if greenish, expression, Zack flipped his phone open to find he had two emails. One from his fan club and another from Genesis's. Unable to keep from smiling, he opened up the one from Genesis's club first.

Turned out that the reinstatement had been publicized. The club was planning to celebrate Genesis's return to grace, Shinra, and SOLDIER. He wasn't a full commander, only lieutenant commander, but the club was still ecstatic. It had also been publicized that Genesis was ill, and may not be in working health much longer despite actively searching for a cure to his sickness. The celebration planned was going to double as a well-wishing party. Zack wasn't sure if that meant the club was inviting Genesis or if there was some sort of little shrine they had set up for the man. Either way, it was nice to see that the man's fans hadn't abandoned him.

Now then, from his club...

“Tseng!” Zack half-yelled, making Cloud jolt with a yelp. “You took a picture?!”

The newsletter from his club featured a picture of him crouched in front of Yuffie, pinkies locked together. The club was congratulating him on starting his quest to make friends all over the world, and looked forward to hearing about the treasure-hunts he got up to with the princess.

“Shinra Electric is in a state of turmoil and vulnerability. Good publicity will help rectify the situation, as fewer people will be willing to attack or jump ship.” Tseng answered simply.

“I hate when you lot are right, you know that?” Zack huffed, flopping back in his seat.

It was a pretty good picture. He wondered how Tseng had managed to get such a nice candid shot without anyone noticing. Was it a Turk thing? Could Reno get just as good of a shot without being caught?

“... It sounds like a children's book series.” Cloud commented, peeking over Zack's shoulder at the newsletter despite his greenness.

“How so?” Zack blinked.

“It's a ninja princess and her SOLDIER friend running around the world looking for treasure. What more do you need?” Cloud asked, head bobbling as he looked back to the window.

“There's a pressure-point on the wrist about two finger-widths down from the palm. Try pressing on it with your thumb.” Tseng advised.

After a moment, Cloud clumsily did so. After a few moments, the blonde's expression became less miserable and more surprised.

“... And the premise does sound like something that would be written for children.” the Turk added.

“Yeah, well, lemme know when you find an author to write the _Adventures Of Princess Rose And Commander Wolf_. I'll be sure to autograph the first ten copies.” Zack shot back, rolling his eyes.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO  
> I am back in school for my last semester. I am taking two paper-heavy science courses (ugh), a research-intense poetry course (I was told this was Writing In Poetry, not Read Every Poem On The Damn Planet) and book arts (hell yeah!). As such, I am going to be rather busy and chapters are going to slow and probably be a bit shorter. Despite that, I'm hoping to wrap up in the next ten or so. So maybe, like... three months? Ish?
> 
> Also:  
> Y'all were not supposed to latch onto that joke about the kids' book series.  
> No, I don't intend to write it. Once this is done, I need to go over my stuff for my other FFVII fic, I have an ATLA and a HxH fic that I wanna try writing a bit, there's a Zelda plot bunny my friend wants me to write, I have a FFVIIxJJBA concept I may want to do more with, and a friend and I are working on a JJBA spinoff. Not to mention all my impending school work. Adding “The Adventures Of Princess Rose And Commander Wolf” to that would push me over the edge.  
> That stated—  
> I can't exactly stop anyone else from writing them. Just because I probably won't doesn't mean I'm going to hold onto the idea that everyone really likes and say they can't write. If you guys want it that much, you'll hafta do it yourselves. I just don't have the mental health capacity and for that I apologize.

“Hey there, Tifa!” Zack greeted as Cloud vanished under a flying tackle.

“You actually did it!” the girl half-howled, ignoring Zack as she yanked Cloud up and swung him around. “You actually made SOLDIER!”

“Your mountain guide, I presume?” Tseng asked, not even waiting for an answer before moving off to speak with Veld and Vincent.

“Wait, why're you here? There aren't any more monsters or anything...” Tifa frowned, no longer spinning Cloud around like a chocobo-plush.

“Investigation and retrieval. We're led to believe that there might be information on why those monsters appeared, and so we're trying to find it.” Zack answered easily. Not too much information, plenty vague, and still technically the truth. The Turks oughta be proud of him.

“Oh. Okay. Will you be here long?” Tifa hummed, Cloud shaking his head, probably to get rid of any lasting dizziness.

“I dunno. Cloud and I weren't given a whole lot of info.” Zack shrugged, ambling towards the trio of Turks. “Hey, how long're we staying?”

“Missing your Miss Gainsborough that much, SOLDIER?” Veld asked drily.

“Among other things. How long?”

“Two days should suffice. Afterwards we'll return to Midgar.”

Nodding, Zack turned towards Tifa and Cloud. “Sounds like two days!” he relayed.

Tifa turned to Cloud, declaring, “You should go see your mom.”

The blonde spluttered, looking towards Zack. Grinning, he scratched his chin and declared, “We do probably need to look into our housing arrangements before we get started...”

And that was all it took for the girl to drag his protege away. The Turks all watched with blank expressions.

“So do I ever get told what we're discussing here, or is it all private?” Zack asked them, tipping his head.

“You and Vincent should head to the manor. Vincent should know at least something about Hojo's research and by able to help you sort through any falsified notes. Tseng and I are more familiar with the reactor, so we'll be able to search there more easily. Your Third should stay in town and see if any of the townsfolk know anything about Hojo's work.” Veld answered. “We don't know what we're looking for or if it even exists. As such, we need to be covering all our bases.”

He nodded, folding his arms. “There's a lot of stuff in that basement, though. Seph was down there for a week and only got through... I don't even know. Point is, you really think we can get through it all in two days?”

“We just need to sort it based on what has been doctored and what hasn't. Anything that has been doctored we can dispose of, and anything that seems to be largely in it's original state we can take back to Midgar.” Vincent told him.

Zack was quiet for a moment. The Turks looked at him expectantly.

“... Am I really being given permission to burn those stupid books?”

Tseng just barely withheld a smile at his words.

“No, you guys don't understand how much I seriously hate those books— Seph wasn't eating, or sleeping, he was just pacing around with his nose in a book and completely ignoring everything! If we had never found the basement, maybe he wouldn't have started to go coconuts! Like yeah, okay, I wouldn't have found Vince either, but that whole mission was a nightmare and I don't think I'm even allowed to blame Genesis for anything anymore, plus Hojo's already dead, so all that's left for me to bitch at is those stupid books!” Zack ranted, waving his hands as Cloud and Tifa reappeared.

“Remind me to show you where his grave is so you can take a piss on it.” Veld suggested, earning a soft little huff from Vincent that sounded vaguely amused.

“What.” Tifa demanded flatly, looking scandalized.

“This really sleazy mad scientist who probably got his rocks off while he experimented on people,” Zack replied, “Cloud, you're going to be staying in town and asking people if they know anything about Hojo.”

“Anything as far back as five years will be most pertinent, but if someone can only supply older, it still has it's uses.” Veld instructed even as Cloud looked dejected.

“... Everyone hates me, though.” the blonde mumbled, scuffing his boot through the dirt.

“Flex on 'em,” Zack advised, “You're enhanced, have a sword, and you hold some rank in the military as a SOLDIER Third. Everyone here is a civilian and if they don't cooperate take down their names so one of us can sort 'em out.”

Tifa nodded, bumping her shoulder against the Third. “Or me. I can punch them and get away with it.”

“Tifa!”

“Actually, Miss Lockheart, if you wouldn't mind escorting Tseng and myself up to the reactor, that would be much appreciated. It's been some time since either of us have been here, and I'm under the impression that mountain paths can change somewhat drastically over time.” Veld cut in.

“If only because you never know where the dragons are gonna nest. Seeya later, Cloud!” the girl answered, waving as she followed the two Turks to the edge of town.

Vincent looked at Zack expectantly.

“You got this, Spiky. You're a SOLDIER now.” he told the blonde, ruffling the kid's hair and waiting for a smile before turning to Vincent. “Okay, let's go!”


	39. Chapter 39

“I don't recall it being this messy...” Vincent murmured, looking around.

“It's like two-thirds Seph and one-third me.” Zack hummed.

The basement had not been tidied. The shelves were still toppled to the floor, broken glass littering the corner, while the desk was an utter disaster of books, papers, and journals.

“... Start by collecting all the books and stacking them by the wall over there. I'll take the loose papers.” Vincent directed.

Zack nodded, moving over to the desk to grab what he could.

It took maybe an hour for him to get all the books over by the wall. In that time, the old Turk had begun reading through the papers and sorting them into piles of his own. When he asked what to do next, Zack was told to skim through the first eighth of each book. If he found any mention of Jenova, Project S, Project G, the Promised Land, or Cetra, he was to put them in one stack. If he found any mention of Chaos, the Omega Project, WEAPONs, or Deepground, he was to put them in another stack. If there was no mention of either category, he was to make a third stack. Vincent informed him that there would likely be little crossover between the first two stacks and therefore not to worry about it.

Zack couldn't help but groan. Sitting at one end of the wall, he grabbed a book, eye-balled how many pages to go through, and started flipping.

At first, a lot of the books seemed to be crusty old history tomes. Theory on who the Cetra were, why they died out, stuff like that. Zack was easily chucking them one after another into a growing pile in the middle of the room. A few were just medical texts, and they got tossed into a different pile. At one point he found a tech manual for the positively ancient computers in the other room.

When he started to get fidgety, his eyes crossing from all the text, Vincent told him to run up and down the stairs a few times. Zack did so, coming back to find the old Turk straightening the piles of books into careful stacks. The disapproving look he got reminded him way too much of Sephiroth, leading him to question what Vincent had said about the affair and pregnancy being too far apart.

Due to him skimming through things, he was flying ahead of Vincent in terms of sorting through things. When he brought this up, Vincent shoved a stack of papers and a few books at him.

“These are all doctored and no good. Go outside and burn them.” the old Turk ordered.

Zack grinned and started upstairs.

As he created a small fire pit in the yard, Zack couldn't help but hum a bit. Maybe things were going too smoothly and they'd hit a snag before long. But for now he was just going to enjoy the smooth sailing. When things went south, he imagined he'd deal with them.

Same way he always had.

His mood dropped a bit, making him sigh. Things usually went south, and Zack was usually the one cleaning up afterwards. Things had been decent recently. But the somewhat endless loop of situation deterioration meant he was, in a way, waiting for it to happen again.

Ripping up the papers, Zack shook his head.

“You'll never get anywhere thinking like that...” he told himself, taking the covers off the books and tearing them down the spines.

It only took a small spark to get the fire started. And the fact that he'd torn everything up into little pieces meant everything burnt away quickly. He smiled, watching Hojo's bullshittery turn to ashes. Take that, mad scientist.

About ten minutes later, the fire was burnt away. Zack stomped over the ashes to extinguish any hidden embers and went back inside.

He was promptly sent back out with a new set of books to burn and the question of if Vincent was tired of him or aggravated at all the doctored information.


	40. Chapter 40

“You smell like an arsonist.” Tifa commented.

“Hey, that's gotta be better than whatever I smelled like after cleaning the reactor out. My mouth tasted like absolute ass for hours after that.” Zack replied as the Turks walked ahead.

“I didn't see you guys come back from that since it was so late, so I dunno.” the girl hummed in reply. There was a beat of silence, and then she added, “You really do smell like an arsonist right now. Make sure you take a shower so you don't stink up the inn.”

“Yeah yeah, sure.” he chuckled. After a bit, Tifa peeled off to go in her own direction. Zack lengthened his stride so he could catch the trio of Turks. “Do I smell like an arsonist?”

“No.” Veld answered flatly.

“Arsonists tend to smell like gasoline or burnt hair. You just smell like campfire smoke and sweat.” Vincent added.

“Good campfire or bad campfire?” Zack pressed, though the sweat comment kinda tipped him off as to which direction they thought it was.

“You're taking a shower.” Tseng said with a warning look, making him snicker. They had doubled up for rooms this time, and Zack was with Tseng. He couldn't help but stick out his tongue.

“How was the reactor?” Vincent asked calmly, effortlessly changing the subject.

“Wait until we collect our Third. I don't think any of us want to repeat ourselves over and over.” Veld sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

With that, they fell silent until reaching the inn. Cloud was waiting outside for them, and snapped to attention the second he saw them. It took Zack ruffling his hair to make him stop, suggesting that he did, in fact, have trouble and therefore need to flex on some people. But he refused to give up any names when prompted, which meant either one or two things— they cooperated in the end, and-or Cloud was doing that silly strong-and-silent thing that not even Seph could pull off a hundred percent.

“So,” Veld said as the five of them gathered in one of the rooms, “Let's start with what SOLDIER Strife found, shall we?”

“Uh— I still have about a third of the town to talk to. The majority of the people I spoke with today said they don't know anything about Hojo. A couple of the younger adults said his description matches a guy they saw lurking around about five years ago, and that was around the time that the Shinra estate started getting infested with particularly nasty monsters. Beyond that, the only ones who were able to give me anything... well, they said it was around twenty to twenty-five years ago, and...”

Cloud trailed off there, looking to Vincent.

“I imagine none of them remember anything clearly.” the old Turk said blandly.

“... Not really.” the blonde grimaced.

“It's been twenty-some years. The human memory isn't infallible.” Vincent shrugged. “Veld?”

The Turk director sighed through his nose. “Not much. The whole place is dated— the self-reliant reactors were practically a bust. But there were... remnants of more recent additions. Tanks and monitors and the like that I'm assuming are in their current state due to the last visit to this town.”

“Probably. I didn't want to take chances on the contents putting up lots of fight or even escaping.” Zack confirmed, Cloud nodding in agreement when they were looked at.

“Aside from that, there was the little shrine to Jenova, currently vacant as the former occupant is being stored in Deepground. No hard records, but Tseng and I managed to collect what memory cards and the like we could.” Veld said, arms crossed over his chest with a grouchy look.

“So that leaves Vincent. I was on book-burning duty.” Zack declared, crossing his legs and bracing his hands on his ankles.

Said Turk made an exasperated noise before saying, “It's tempting to just burn everything, at this rate. So much of it has been doctored or falsified... some of it completely made up.”

“I'm down to burn the whole manor.” Zack suggested.

The room was silent.

“I retract the statement, I was joking, you hear?” he amended, pointing to everyone in turn. “I know we were joking around about my status as an arsonist earlier but I think that's a title best left to Genesis.”

“On the other hand, we have the digital records from the reactor. Recover any that are in the manor and then there's no real need for the place any more. Burning it out would also prevent locals from stumbling onto things they shouldn't.” Veld replied, looking a lot less grouchy.

“When did I become the voice of reason here? Cloud, back me up!” Zack cried out, reaching over to tug at his apprentice's elbow.

“When you replaced Sephiroth as commanding officer?”

“That's not what I meant and you know it!”

“All in favor of burning the place.” Veld intoned, raising a hand. Tseng and Vincent raised theirs as well. “And against?”

Zack threw both hands up.

“Abstaining, Strife?” Tseng hummed.

The blonde fidgeted, looking down at the floor. “I... uh... the idea of burning the place out makes sense, but... it's currently Nibelheim's dry season, and fire spreads easily up here...” Cloud mumbled anxiously.

“Duly noted. Majority vote says to burn it.” Veld declared.

“Since when am I the adult here?!” Zack squawked, staring around the room in betrayal.

“Fire-related accidents are standard Turk fare.” Vincent informed him with a shrug.

“I hate that I know that now. I'm never going to trust any fire ever again. Ugh. Whatever, I'm gonna shower and hit the sack.” he muttered, climbing up to his feet.

“And I should head home... my mom's probably got supper on the table by this point...” Cloud nodded sheepishly.

“Tomorrow Tseng and Strife will wrap up here in town. Fair, Valentine and myself will take care of the manor.” Veld informed them in a dismissive tone. The three Turks seemed to have plans to hang out for a bit or something, so Zack blew a raspberry at them as he left. He walked Cloud to the inn-door and waved until he couldn't see the kid any more, then returned to the room he was sharing with Tseng and began getting ready to shower.

This was going to count as one of the Turks' favors, he decided as he turned the water on. It wasn't razing a town, but it was something he didn't want to do, yet was going to under Turk orders. It totally counted as repaying one of the favors they'd done him.


	41. Chapter 41

“I was joking about you being an arsonist.” Tifa said in a disapproving tone as Zack stomped out another stray spark.

“Go talk to Veld.” he replied, grinding his boot in the dirt. She raised an eyebrow, but did as he said.

He, Vincent and Veld were keeping the blaze contained. About half of Nibelheim was fetching water to fight the flames, while the other half took preventative measures to ensure the town didn't go up. Personally, Zack was more worried about the trees, since they were closer. But he guessed that was what he was supposed to be doing.

Still. There was no reason to burn down the entire manor. They could've just burnt all the papers and journals and books and called that it. There was absolutely no need for this.

Spotting a little red glow, Zack moved over to stomp it out.

He wasn't mad, but he definitely wanted to go home and see what Aerith had gotten up to. She had said she would need a few days to figure things out, he bet she already had everything down pat.

“Do they really expect anyone to buy that frayed and exposed wires sparked and caught on a book while their backs were turned?” Tifa asked, approaching him again as he kicked some dirt over the now-dead ember.

“I don't wanna talk about it. I'm never going to be able to look at fires the same again.” Zack grumbled.

There was a loud crack as part of the huge house caved in, the flames gutting and then billowing. A wave of renewed heat rolled over everything, making Zack squint a little and Tifa wince.

“If we had ice materia this would be so much faster...” he griped, loping over to another ember making a bid for freedom.

“You can do that?” Tifa asked as she followed after him, carefully squashing out sparks as he killed the ember.

“Uh... yeah? I mean... it's basic elemental stuff.” Zack answered with a bit of a frown.

“We don't get a lot of materia up here. You have to special-order it, hope you can afford it plus post and shipping, and then you have to hope that you're strong enough to use it without passing out.” Tifa explained with a shrug.

He wanted to have so many aneurysms just hearing that. Was Shinra deliberately cutting Nibelheim off from the rest of the world or something? Gongaga was a backwoods place too, but this was ridiculous! He was going to have A Talk with someone about this, one that would've made Angeal proud.

“First of all, if you're a beginning caster, you don't shove all your energy into the materia at once. You try to trickle it in just enough to make the materia glow at first. Once you can get it to that point as easy as breathing, then you start working your way up to actually casting. You're not supposed to pass out when using materia. If you pass out then you're overexerting yourself and literally shaving years off your life.” Zack told her, catching sight of another puff of sparks threatening the trees. Veld beat him to that patch.

“... Huh.” the girl said thoughtfully.

“It's easy enough to pick up. Most people pick it up in a day, maybe two if they're a little slow. My girlfriend got up to actually casting in about half a day.” Zack added. Cloud's poorer score on the materia part of the SOLDIER exam made way too much sense now.

“You have a girlfriend?” Tifa asked, tilting her head in a way that suggested disbelief.

“Why does everyone latch onto that? Do I really come off as that undesirable?” he demanded, voice breaking a bit as he did so.

“More like you seem like the playboy type. The one who knows lots of girls but doesn't go steady with any single one.”

... Okay, he couldn't lie, he had been kinda like that once. He liked making girls feel special and making them smile, and they usually laughed when he flirted or suggested a date. Even the ones who already had boyfriends. But he'd never actually gone on any dates or anything. Aerith was the first to take him up on that.

“Changing the subject, why did you guys decide to burn the manor?” Tifa huffed, waving away the haze of smoke residue around them.

“... I think you'd have to talk to Veld again.”

Eventually, the fire was put out. There had been a couple scares with stray embers here and there, but by this point everything had been reduced to smoldering piles of debris that were quickly dying under dirt and water. A couple villagers stayed on the estate to stamp out any potential flare-ups, and everyone else went home.

“I still think that was overkill.” Zack huffed as he followed Veld and Vincent to the inn. Cloud waved from near the water-tower, and he waved back. It looked like Tseng was grilling some poor sap that had refused to talk to the blonde.

“Look at it this way, lieutenant commander,” the director said blandly, “This way you get back to Midgar that much faster.”

Ugh, that was such a good argument...

“Still, in the dry season... sheesh...” he muttered, shaking his head.


	42. Chapter 42

“We just got back,” Zack said into his phone, “They want me to take a look at Jenova first. So Seph, Gen, and Tseng are coming your way.”

“Aww. You'll miss it, then!” Aerith replied, her pout audible.

“You got things all figured out, then?” Zack smiled as he crossed the lobby towards the waiting Turks.

“Mm-hmm! I guess we could wait for you, depending how long it takes...” she told him.

“Well, how about this? You go ahead and wait an hour, and if you don't hear from me, get started. I'll hafta get a play-by-play from Genesis, I'm sure he'll properly embellish the story.”

Aerith laughed, but agreed. They said their goodbyes and promises to see each other later, and then hung up. Zack pocketed his phone and nodded to the expectant Turks— no one he recognized, this time. Wordlessly, they turned and—

“A secret entrance in the lobby... man, Shinra really had a thing for hidden doors, huh?” Zack muttered, following them into Deepground.

It was a creepy place. Not at all like the sterile labs he had been expecting. No, this was closer to what had been beneath the manor in Nibelheim. Only... somehow it was a lot more menacing. Maybe because it was right below his feet for so long, with so much suffering going on, and he had never known?

And the air was bad, too. Like Nibelheim's had been during the bogus mission.

“There he is.” a familiar voice said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“Kunsel!” he exclaimed with a grin, bounding over to hug his friend. “Oh! Weiss and Nero! Hey there!”

The brothers gave him the slightest of nods before turning back to the large tank in the middle of the room. Zack followed their gaze and laid eyes on Jenova for the first time.

“... Are they sure it's a girl?” he asked uncertainly, pulling away from Kunsel to trot closer. There were Turks and scientists littered around the room, looking at all kinds of tech Zack didn't understand. He wasn't entirely sure why Kunsel and the brothers were here, but he was going to assume it was in case things went bad.

“It has boobs, doesn't it?” Kunsel pointed out, standing next to him.

“That isn't a boob, that's an eye! Look, the other side is flat!” Zack retorted, gesturing at the mottled, greyish flesh behind the glass and mako.

“What about you guys, what do you think?” Kunsel asked, drawing Zack's attention to the brothers. The two were hovering almost directly behind him, and if he wasn't used to that from Turks by this point he would have jumped. “Think it's a girl?”

Nero just tilted his head, staring the thing in the face. Weiss blinked, then offered, “It isn't human, and so we don't have any way of knowing if male or female applies to it's species.”

“That makes sense, I guess. The eye-boob does not, though. Why would you need an eye that big right there?” Zack muttered.

“That does seem kinda dumb. Can you imagine all the irritants?” Kunsel nodded.

“Forget that, can you imagine it getting poked?!”

Grey flesh twitched.

“... Very funny, Zack. You got me there.” Kunsel chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder from where they had all jumped back.

“... That wasn't me...?” he replied uncertainly, blinking at his friend in confusion.

“Don't pull that, you were the closest one to the tank. If anyone was going to tap it to make that thing look like it was moving, it would be you.”

“... He didn't.” Nero said flatly.

Silence fell between the four of them as they stared at the tank.

Eventually Zack couldn't take it any more and yelled, “Hey, it moved!” to the scientists and Turks milling around. Everyone seemed to freeze, eyes wide.

“... Impossible. It's practically a fossil, and it's not like this place picks up a lot of seismic activity.” one of the scientists piped up, edging cautiously closer.

“It moved. All of us saw it.” Zack insisted.

“It wasn't a lot— like a small shudder or something.” Kunsel nodded.

The scientist stared uneasily at the tank. “... If... maybe if we could confirm... Do one of you think you could destroy it's brain?”

“It has a brain?” Zack mumbled skeptically.

“I could probably ram my sword through without getting in the mako myself so long as I got boosted up.” Kunsel suggested, ignoring the comment.

Shaking himself into a more business-like state, Zack cut in, “Let me do it. I have a bit more experience with precision stuff, and my balance is better than yours. Is the thing open up top?”

“There's a hatch...” the scientist murmured, already stepping back.

Nodding, Zack and Kunsel approached the tank again. Kunsel braced himself, and Zack clambered up onto his shoulders. He took a moment to be sure of his balance, then peered over the top of the tank. There was indeed a hatch, just within his arm's reach. Shifting his weight in a way that made Kunsel grunt, he reached out and pried it open.

The smell of mako and death hit him like a truck.

Mako was a sharp, bitter scent. Chemical-like, even though it was a more... organic type of stuff. But there was no way to describe the other smell aside from death. Zack had been on plenty of missions, fought plenty of monsters, encountered plenty of rotting corpses. This smelled like the blood of the mutated Genesis clones, only... worse. Far, far worse.

Just barely managing not to gag, Zack nodded and said, “Okay, sword.”

“Switch out.”

Weiss's voice made him blink, twisting to look at the man.

“Kunsel isn't tall enough. You won't have a good angle to strike like that. You'll just break the glass and flood the room.” Weiss said, voice flat and sharp all at once.

“Huh? So you wanna take his place, then?” Zack asked, blinking.

The answer came in the form of Weiss standing next to Kunsel, waiting in an expectant manner.

“... Okay then. I'm gonna step off— sorry if I kick either of you.” Zack muttered, carefully swinging his feet around heads and across shoulders. Weiss didn't bother steadying himself, instead reaching up to grip Zack's ankles. “Thanks, buddy. Okay, Kunsel, sword?”

His friend shrugged the blade off his back, then passed it up. It had been a while since he'd actually handled a standard SOLDIER blade. It felt almost distressingly light in his hand. Light and fragile. Taking a deep breath, he shoved those thoughts from his mind and turned his attention to the task at hand.

Weiss was right, the angle was better now. Zack could actually see and reach the hatch without having to stretch or reach. He could see Jenova's head, lined up just right for a strike that'd cut the skull in two.

He waited a moment, watching for any signs of it preparing to defend itself, then stabbed the sword down into the mako.

Jenova screamed.

It wasn't vocal. It wasn't something he could hear. But he could feel it, deep in his skull, radiating out through his brain and making him collapse against the tank as he gripped his head. It hurt, and he could hear the people around him screaming, but he couldn't think past the pain in his head. He gasped for breath, tears welling up in his eyes as his nails dug through his gloves, through his hair, into his scalp, he just needed to get it out, get it out, it hurt so much—

The tank fell beneath him, making him yelp breathlessly in surprise. The screaming stopped, and he was yanked back, hitting the floor with a rough thud.

Slowly, his senses returned to him. His head still hurt like a bitch, but he no longer wanted to split his own skull like a watermelon to get the screaming out. His ankles hurt, though. It felt like they were bruised, possibly even cut in some areas. Blinking away the tears in his eyes and gulping down air, Zack pushed himself sloppily to his elbows.

The tank with Jenova in it was gone. Looking around, he couldn't see a trace of it anywhere. Just Shinra employees groaning on their hands and knees, clutching their heads or emptying their stomachs. Kunsel was swaying where he kneeled on the ground, Weiss sitting up as if nothing had happened, and Nero... Nero stood nearby, looking nonchalant.

“... Wha...?” Zack warbled in confusion.

“Thanks, Nero.” Weiss said, voice rougher than usual. So despite looking okay, the guy had been affected by the screaming too. Zack guessed that explained why his ankles hurt.

“What'd Nero do?” Zack asked, struggling up to a sitting position.

“His ability swallows things in darkness in such a way that they cannot return.” Weiss shrugged.

... So Nero had essentially teleported Jenova to another dimension? Or disintegrated it? Something like that?

“... Why didn't you do that earlier?” he pouted at the darker brother, rubbing his head to emphasize his point.

Nero shrugged, coolly declaring, “You never asked.”


	43. Chapter 43

“... You two look like drowned rats.”

Genesis peeled back his lips in a snarl. Sephiroth just continued carefully wringing his hair out.

“I'm guessing this has to do with the new pool I see in the back there?” Zack asked, glancing beyond the flowers.

“We were going to wait for you, honest.” Aerith told him, her voice trembling with barely-restrained giggles. “But then Jenova attacked and Gladiolus had to push them in.”

“... That was a while ago, though?”

“It took time to work completely.” Vincent piped up.

The church was very full right now. Sephiroth and Genesis sat in small puddles, apparently dripping dry. Genesis no longer looked faded and ashy, which was a pleasant surprise. Cloud was sitting at the edge of the pool with his feet dipped in the water. Vincent and Tseng stood in the corner, with Rufus sitting nearby. Gladiolus was resting by the pool. Kunsel had come with Zack, while Nero and Weiss had declined the offer.

“You two should join Cloud. Eventually we'll need to get every SOLDIER cleansed, but these two were the important ones.” Aerith hummed, giving Sephiroth and Genesis a pat on the head. Neither looked like they knew how to react.

“So it was in the SOLDIER treatments? But then why didn't any of us react?” Zack frowned, leading Kunsel around the flowers to the pool.

“Not sure.” Aerith shrugged.

Vincent piped up then, saying, “Because all other SOLDIERs made use of Sephiroth's cells, not Jenova's directly.”

“Charming.” Genesis said drily.

Zack ruffled Cloud's hair as he and Kunsel kicked off their boots. “So, Jenova's gone. Everyone make sure you thank Nero for it.” he declared as the two of them sat, dipping their feet in the pool.

“What did he do?” Rufus questioned.

“Apparently the guy can just erase stuff from the world,” Kunsel answered, “Which is a really useful skill, when you think about it. He could get rid of toxic and hazardous waste materials, completely eradicate landfills... I wonder if there's any limits to what he can erase?”

Zack could honestly say he hadn't thought of it that way. He splashed thoughtfully, thinking of the heaps of rubble and trash under the plate. While they were useful for dumpster-diving, getting rid of them would help a lot. Clean the ground, free up space, eliminate monster dens... and Nero could potentially do it all on his own. That was really cool.

“Well, without Jenova, we aren't exactly going to be getting any more SOLDIERs. So that's a whole section of the company that just needs rethinking.” Genesis muttered.

“Two.”

All eyes went to Rufus. The blonde crossed his legs, folding his hands on his lap as he announced, “I've been speaking with Miss Gainsborough over the past few days. I have decided that it would be best to shut down the reactors and invest in alternative forms of energy.”

“Wait, really?” Cloud and Genesis both said. Zack couldn't see Genesis's expression from this angle, but Cloud looked absolutely gobsmacked.

“Just like that?” Sephiroth asked, sounding vaguely suspicious.

Zack saw icy eyes flick towards him. Before he could say anything, the blonde cleared his throat and said, “It is, I believe, the fair thing to do.”

Aerith snickered, and Zack could almost hear Genesis rolling his eyes. Kunsel ruffled his hair with a grin, making him squawk. Gladiolus stood and trotted over to them, nudging his way between Zack and Cloud.

... Oh.

“... Hey, Aerith?” he said, voice admittedly soft as he scratched between the canine's plates. “What about Gladiolus?”

She didn't answer, and he felt his chest grow tight. After a moment, she had walked over and knelt behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“... I don't know. He's been purged of Jenova as well by this point, but I don't know what that means for him. He might not last. He might grow old like a normal dog. There's no way to know by this point.” she murmured, giving him a squeeze.

Swallowing the lump in his throat as Kunsel laid hand on his knee and Cloud touched his hand, Zack smiled weakly and replied, “Well, at least he'll be getting what he deserves. You've worked hard, haven't you, buddy? You deserve some peace and quiet.”

Gladiolus's tail rattled against the ground as it wagged.

For a while, the church was quiet. Genesis was muttering to Sephiroth, it sounded like. The general would hum now and then. Tseng and Rufus were exchanging quiet words of their own. The water of the pool splashed quietly.

“... You three could probably get out of the water if you wanted now.” Aerith told the three of them. Cloud and Kunsel were both relatively quick to do so, but Zack stayed put, leaning gently back against his girlfriend.

“... We weren't supposed to come back from Nibelheim.” he said softly, kicking his feet gently to make ripples in the water.

“But you did.” Aerith replied, giving him a peck on the cheek.

“All because I threw a fit.” Zack chuckled, reaching up to pat her hand. As she let him go, he stood and continued, “And now look at where we are. No more Jenova, no more mako reactors... and Cloud didn't believe me when I told him a properly timed tantrum could work wonders.”

She laughed, shaking her head as Vincent crossed the church to speak with Genesis and Sephiroth. It sounded like Kunsel was gossiping with Cloud as Zack hugged Aerith.

“Maybe,” she suggested impishly, “You could see about Wutai's independence.”

Zack turned to look at Rufus. The blonde tensed under his gaze, looking wary.

“... Not yet,” he decided with a shrug, “Baby-steps, y'know?”

Aerith giggled, “Puppy-steps!”

He couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh.


End file.
